https://www.scmp.com/rss/242201/feed Gu Kailai, also know as Bogu Kailai, is the wife of Bo Xilai, former Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing. She was born in 1958, the youngest of five daughters to a prominent Chinese army general. She was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in August 2012 for murdering British business partner Neil Heywood in 2011. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com China and the United States continued to toughen their actions against each other on Thursday with Beijing preparing to close a US consulate in retaliation for the forced closure of the Chinese diplomatic facility in Houston. A source briefed on the matter said the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu would be the target for China’s retaliation. Officials from the two sides traded barbs over the Houston closure order ahead of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivering a speech on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3094336/us-consulate-chengdu-prime-target-china-retaliation-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3094336/us-consulate-chengdu-prime-target-china-retaliation-over?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jul 2020 03:52:53 +0000 A former aide to the family of disgraced Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai, who helped Bo’s wife in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, has been released from jail much earlier than expected, a source close the Bo family said. The poisoning of the Briton in late 2011 set off a chain of events that eventually led to China’s biggest political scandal in decades, ending with the imprisonment of Bo, who had been a rival to President Xi Jinping in the lead-up to the leadership transition in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2129724/former-bo-xilai-family-aide-jailed-over-murder-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2129724/former-bo-xilai-family-aide-jailed-over-murder-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0000 A prison in northern China, where the wife of the disgraced top government official Bo Xilai is serving a life sentence for murder, has denied a report that sports activities were suspended in an outdoor recreation area at the jail after she was incarcerated there. The allegation was made in a magazine report about a former goalkeeper with China’s national football team Jiang Jin. Chinese court commutes death sentence for Bo Xilai’s wife, murderer Gu Kailai Jiang was held at the same prison as... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1939510/chinese-prison-denies-shutting-outdoor-recreation-area?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1939510/chinese-prison-denies-shutting-outdoor-recreation-area?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Apr 2016 05:12:56 +0000 China took the rare step on Monday of announcing that the suspended death sentences handed down to two high-profile figures had been reduced to life in prison. Commuting such sentences is a routine practice, but highlighting it is unusual. In Beijing, the high court on Monday said that Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced former Politburo member Bo Xilai, had her suspended death penalty reduced to a life sentence following good behaviour. She was found guilty in 2012 of murdering a British... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1891227/chinese-court-commutes-death-sentencefor-bo-xilais-wife?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1891227/chinese-court-commutes-death-sentencefor-bo-xilais-wife?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Dec 2015 15:45:30 +0000 The former top prosecutor in the murder trial of Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai, is believed to have hanged himself on Tuesday, state media reports. Man Mingan, Hefei’s deputy chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was found dead in a residential apartment in the central Anhui province early on Tuesday morning. Police had received a report at about 7am that a body had been found in a top-floor apartment. Initial investigations... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1844786/chinese-prosecutor-murder-trial-wife-disgraced-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/1844786/chinese-prosecutor-murder-trial-wife-disgraced-party?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Jul 2015 05:45:00 +0000 When China was in the grip of Peng Liyuan fever, back in March, Gu Kailai was already serving time for murder. I don't know whether Gu read any of the glowing media reports about the new first lady and, if she did, what she thought of them. If her husband, Bo Xilai , really did have his eye on the top ranks of Chinese politics, Gu must have once coveted the role now taken by Peng, and believed she could have played it better. Sadly for her, Bo's downfall meant the end of such hopes; her public... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1300110/tragedy-gu-kailai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1300110/tragedy-gu-kailai?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The wife of Bo Xilai is almost certain to be prosecuted separately for economic crimes revealed in her testimony regarding corruption allegations against her husband, sources say. Concerns about the credibility of the legal system were raised throughout the five-day trial against Bo, in which the court heard that Gu Kailai attempted to cover up her family assets through complicated business dealings with tycoons. But Gu was only charged with murdering her business partner, Briton Neil Heywood,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299646/gu-kailai-likely-face-fresh-trial-economic-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299646/gu-kailai-likely-face-fresh-trial-economic-crimes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The last day of Bo Xilai's trial culminated with the surprise revelation of an illicit love affair between his wife Gu Kailai and his former top aide Wang Lijun . Trial transcripts and earlier media reports showed how the pair went from being strangers to friends, lovers and enemies in the course of less than five years. In a sensational attempt to defend himself, Bo told the court yesterday that the former police chief of Chongqing defected only after his secret relationship with Gu was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299645/bo-xilai-tells-wang-lijuns-secret-love-affair-his-wife-gu-kailai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299645/bo-xilai-tells-wang-lijuns-secret-love-affair-his-wife-gu-kailai?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Evidence Bo Xilai's wife gave against him would have been more credible if she had delivered it in person, lawyers say. Instead Gu Kailai's testimony was relayed through an 11-minute video and written statements. Taken together, they portray Gu and the couple's son, Bo Guagua , as closely involved in the alleged corruption. She told the court property tycoon Xu Ming bought a luxury villa in France on the family's behalf, and he paid for luxurious trips for Bo Guagua. But legal experts said Gu... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299419/bo-wifes-refusal-appear-court-damaged-credibility-say-experts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299419/bo-wifes-refusal-appear-court-damaged-credibility-say-experts?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Bo Xilai continued his scathing attack on Wang Lijun in court yesterday, calling his former top aide "extremely vile" and dismissing his testimony as a black mark on the court's credibility. Bo criticised Wang, whom he picked as his right-hand man, as the Jinan Intermediate People's Court heard allegations about Bo's abuse of power. This included removing Wang as Chongqing police chief without following procedures, allowing his wife Gu Kailai to interfere with the handling of Wang's defection to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299420/bo-xilai-calls-his-former-top-aide-wang-lijun-extremely-vile?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299420/bo-xilai-calls-his-former-top-aide-wang-lijun-extremely-vile?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 In an unexpected twist to the Bo Xilai court drama, the former Chongqing party secretary admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife, Gu Kailai , but "still had feelings for her". Gu, who is serving a suspended death sentence for murdering Briton Neil Heywood, has been a key witness for prosecutors in the bribery and embezzlement case in the past three days. Bo had been publicly accused of "having and maintaining improper sexual relationships", among other accusations, by the Commission for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299253/i-was-unfaithful-wife-gu-kailai-bo-xilai-admits-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299253/i-was-unfaithful-wife-gu-kailai-bo-xilai-admits-court?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The wife and younger son of Bo Xilai should stand trial for economic crimes if Bo is found guilty of bribery, legal experts say, though whether they eventually will is a political unknown. New evidence given by witnesses including Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, implicated her and their son, Bo Guagua , in Bo's alleged bribery, so they should be tried, the experts said. For Gu, such a trial would come on top of the suspended death sentence she received in August last year for the murder of British... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299256/legal-experts-say-bo-xilais-wife-and-son-should-stand-trial-economic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299256/legal-experts-say-bo-xilais-wife-and-son-should-stand-trial-economic?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Details of how 5 million yuan (HK$6.3 million) in allegedly embezzled public funds was funnelled to the family of Bo Xilai by their "caretaker" came to light on the third day of Bo's trial for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. Zhao Dongping, director of the Beijing Angdao law firm, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing, testified in a written statement that he accepted and kept 5 million yuan on behalf of Gu Kailai, Bo's wife, in addition to other family funds. "Zhao Dongping is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299257/caretaker-zhao-dongping-hid-cash-bo-xilais-family?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299257/caretaker-zhao-dongping-hid-cash-bo-xilais-family?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Wang Lijun  – Bo Xilai’s ally turned nemesis – also gave his account of his confrontation with Bo and his dramatic flight to the American consulate in Chengdu. This version is edited and condensed: “I’m not just a witness; I’m a victim of Bo Xilai’s case. “On January 28 at 1700 [hours], I went to the 1st block [ Bo’s office]. I said clearly to him that Neil [Heywood] was murdered by Gu Kailai  . I told him in great detail of how [Gu] went in [Heywood’s room] and how [she] poured the poison. I... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299202/subordinate-friend-and-victim-wang-lijun-gives-his-side-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299202/subordinate-friend-and-victim-wang-lijun-gives-his-side-story?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Aug 2013 14:37:46 +0000 Bo Xilai on Saturday reconstructed events that led to him slapping the then Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun in the face, and the latter’s dramatic defection to the American consulate in Chengdu. “[Wang] came to me on January 28 [2012] and told me [British businessman] Neil [Heywood] died. He said somebody was alleging that Gu Kailai had something to do with the death. Later in the evening we talked more about Gu’s problems. We talked about the relations between Gu Kailai and Neil Heywood. But... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299189/murder-violence-and-distrust-bo-xilai-recounts-dramatic-events-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299189/murder-violence-and-distrust-bo-xilai-recounts-dramatic-events-police?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Aug 2013 14:14:50 +0000 No one knows a man better than his own mother, goes an old Chinese saying. And Gu Kailai - wife of disgraced princeling Bo Xilai - vividly recounted the jaw-dropping luxury university lifestyle of her son, Bo Guagua, during her testimony, as well as others, during her husband's trial. Bo Guagua, born in 1987, is the second son of Bo Xilai. At age 12 he was packed off to Britain's Papplewick boarding school. Having spent many of his formative years abroad, Bo is a high-end frequent flyer,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299108/gu-kailai-reveals-son-bo-guaguas-jet-setting-lifestyle-testimony?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299108/gu-kailai-reveals-son-bo-guaguas-jet-setting-lifestyle-testimony?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 In March last year, Bo Xilai lashed out in public over accusations his family was wealthy and his son flaunted his lavish lifestyle, slamming the claims as "total nonsense". Those assertions are now being contradicted by claims Bo and his defence are making in Jinan in Shandong , where he is standing trial. Gu Kailai had at least 40 million yuan in assets before going to Britain in 2000 Lawyer for Bo Xilai "For decades, my wife [Gu Kailai] and I had no personal assets. She became a lawyer... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299106/latest-claims-about-family-wealth-contradict-earlier-accounts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299106/latest-claims-about-family-wealth-contradict-earlier-accounts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The web of connections linking Gu Kailai to the rich and powerful was laid bare at her husband Bo Xilai's trial yesterday - as was the distrust, doubt, betrayal and hatred tangled within it. In videotaped testimony played at the Jinan Intermediate People's Court and shared on the court's microblog, a soft-spoken Gu told prosecutors that she had known Xu Ming , a Dalian property tycoon detained for allegedly running a business illegally, for 20 years. She had a "very good impression of him", the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299101/bo-xilai-trial-exposes-tangled-web-connections?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1299101/bo-xilai-trial-exposes-tangled-web-connections?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Personal differences between Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai spilled over into the People's Intermediate Court in Jinan as the disgraced former Chongqing party boss dismissed his wife's written testimony against him as "very comical and ridiculous". Bo's public criticism of Gu was easily one of the most extraordinary moments on the first day of his trial on corruption and abuse of power charges. The pair had once been one of China's most prominent power couples; he the leader of the country's... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1298747/bo-blasts-wife-gus-testimony-against-him-comical-and-ridiculous?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1298747/bo-blasts-wife-gus-testimony-against-him-comical-and-ridiculous?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Aug 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Remember Bo Xilai ? He is, of course, the former Politburo member and Chongqing party chief who last year was at the heart of China's biggest political scandal since the 1976 arrest of the Gang of Four. For months, party leaders have been quietly stewing about how to handle his case in a way that will be consistent with their ideological preferences and claims to respect the rule of law. Now, an "internal report" suggests that Bo may finally be put on trial next month. On March 15 last year,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1289898/can-chinese-leaders-all-agree-how-try-bo-xilai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1289898/can-chinese-leaders-all-agree-how-try-bo-xilai?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 One year after Chongqing’s police chief set off China’s biggest scandal in decades, the megacity has seen revelations of torture and corruption but little action on alleged abuses during the reign of disgraced leader Bo Xilai. Symbols of Bo’s time in power have been erased from the city he ruled as Communist Party chief, but media reports on his wrongdoings say little of his links with leaders of the party in which he was once a rising star. The scandal began to emerge on February 6, when Wang... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1144701/one-year-chinas-bo-scandal-haunts-chongqing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1144701/one-year-chinas-bo-scandal-haunts-chongqing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:59:20 +0000 The Communist Party's disciplinary body announced at a news conference on Wednesday morning that disgraced former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai and former minister of Railways Liu Zhijun have been handed over to judicial authorities.  The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has also launched a formal investigation of Sichuan’s former deputy party secretary Li Chuncheng, according to a spokesman at the news conference. Li was accused of influence-peddling and questionable real... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1123664/bo-xilai-handed-over-judicial-authorities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1123664/bo-xilai-handed-over-judicial-authorities?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:35:13 +0000 An investigative report about China’s most infamous former police officer Wang Lijun by China’s Southern Metropolis Weekly magazine has answered some questions relating to the murder of British businessmen Neil Heywood, whose death precipitated the downfall of China's once powerful and ambitious politician Bo Xilai. Wang Lijun, Gu Kailai, Xu Ming – partners in crime Wang Lijun, then police chief of Jinzhou, Laioning province, met Gu Kailai, Bo’s wife, in 2007 through business tycoon Xu Ming.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1108128/mysteries-surrounding-heywood-murder-begin-unfold?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1108128/mysteries-surrounding-heywood-murder-begin-unfold?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Dec 2012 04:34:22 +0000 Police chief, criminal, designer, calligrapher and fashionista - it may come as a surprise that the man who encompasses all of those things is China's most infamous former cop, Wang Lijun. What was the real story of Chongqing's powerful yet mysterious "super cop"? A 40-page in-depth story published in China’s Southern Metropolis Weekly magazine reveals a shocking picture of Wang's private and work life. Wang, the former vice-mayor and police chief of Chongqing when Bo Xilai was Communist Party... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1107354/real-wang-lijun-revealed-magazine-expose?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1107354/real-wang-lijun-revealed-magazine-expose?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Dec 2012 04:06:33 +0000 Businessman Neil Heywood, who was murdered in China in a scandal involving one of the Communist Party’s rising stars, Bo Xilai, was an informant to Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, said a newspaper report on Tuesday. Heywood, whose murder last November triggered the country’s biggest political scandal in two decades, knowingly provided information about the powerful Bo family to MI6 for more than a year, according to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal.  The revelation about the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1076193/neil-heywood-informant-british-spy-agency-wsj-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1076193/neil-heywood-informant-british-spy-agency-wsj-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Nov 2012 07:56:36 +0000 State prosecutors initiated investigations against disgraced Bo Xilai yesterday within hours of his formal expulsion from the national legislature. The announcement came less than a fortnight before the start of the five-yearly Communist Party congress that will see a once-in-a-decade transition of power at the top of the party. "The Supreme People's Procuratorate has decided to put Bo Xilai under investigation for alleged criminal offences," Xinhua reported shortly before midnight. Bo was in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1070746/prosecutors-announce-bo-probe-after-npc-expels-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1070746/prosecutors-announce-bo-probe-after-npc-expels-him?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A group of Chinese leftists has issued a public letter calling on the country’s largely rubber stamp parliament not to expel disgraced former top leader Bo Xilai from its ranks, saying the move is legally questionable and politically motivated. Stripping membership from Bo – the one-time Communist Party chief of Chongqing who is accused of abusing power, taking huge bribes and other crimes – also removes his immunity from prosecution, and paves the way for formal charges against him. Bo’s ouster... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1067107/china-leftists-urge-parliament-not-expel-bo-xilai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1067107/china-leftists-urge-parliament-not-expel-bo-xilai?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Oct 2012 04:18:45 +0000 Think of what follows as a manifestation of remaining support for Bo Xilai, material evidence that some does exist. Each day last week, US-based Chinese political gossip site Boxun published a series of increasingly sensational rumours regarding the case now being built against Bo Xilai, ending with a list of 89 people who were meant to form post-coup China's core leadership under Bo. Not to be outdone, Boxun competitor Duowei then published three letters addressed to Chongqing and the nation,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1058659/chongqing-tragedy-three-acts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1058659/chongqing-tragedy-three-acts?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Oct 2012 07:56:42 +0000 Bo Xilai will soon face trial for corruption under the glare of the international media spotlight. Late last month, China's Communist Party formally expelled him after an internal investigation and turned him over to the judicial authorities for criminal prosecution. Across the country, government departments are holding up Bo's case for study. We can only hope that it will have a positive, far-reaching impact on the fight against corruption and act as a deterrent to other officials. According... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1058006/bo-xilai-case-exposes-challenges-modernising-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1058006/bo-xilai-case-exposes-challenges-modernising-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Months before his fall from power, Chongqing party leader Bo Xilai suspected a plot to poison his second wife and questioned whether his son by his first marriage was involved, a report said on Sunday. The second wife Gu Kailai was herself convicted in August of fatally poisoning a British businessman. The latest revelation in the murder and corruption scandal, which brought Bo down and exposed deep divisions in the ruling Communist Party ahead of a once-in-a-decade leadership change, came from... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1055985/bo-xilais-first-wife-calls-gu-kailai-paranoid-over-poisoning-plot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1055985/bo-xilais-first-wife-calls-gu-kailai-paranoid-over-poisoning-plot?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Oct 2012 10:55:59 +0000 Act III of the Bo Xilai saga has begun but it is likely to be brief, to clear the stage in time for the party's congress early next month. However, if the trial of the former Chongqing party chief is just a show trial - like that of his wife Gu Kailai and his right-hand man, police chief Wang Lijun - it will be another blow to hopes for the rule of law on the mainland. Many have contrasted the trial of Gu on August 10 with that of Jiang Qing , Mao Zedong's widow, 32 years ago after the fall of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1053908/end-bo-xilai-saga-looks-be-bad-news-rule-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1053908/end-bo-xilai-saga-looks-be-bad-news-rule-law?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Experts have pointed out that in China's legal system, cases generally don't go to trial unless the likelihood of securing a conviction is high.  Accusations made through Xinhua this past Friday which link Gu Kailai to several alleged crimes involving her husband, Bo Xilai, led prominent Chinese legal scholar He Weifang to speculate that punishment in a new conviction for economic crimes could raise Gu's current suspended death sentence for murder to an order for execution. Joshua Rosenzweig,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1051356/gravity-new-gu-kailai-criminal-accusations-clarified?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1051356/gravity-new-gu-kailai-criminal-accusations-clarified?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:41:25 +0000 Bo Xilai is likely to stand trial before the start of the leadership succession next month, as Beijing scrambles to limit the fallout from his scandalous downfall, analysts say. They believe the trial of the disgraced former Politburo member was the main reason for the surprise postponement of the opening of the 18th national party congress until November 8. Criminal proceedings against Bo are expected to be accelerated, with some pundits predicting the former Chongqing party chief may be... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1051129/beijing-scramble-put-bo-xilai-trial-ahead-leadership-transition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1051129/beijing-scramble-put-bo-xilai-trial-ahead-leadership-transition?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The son of fallen Chinese politician Bo Xilai has defended his father as “upright in his beliefs and devoted to duty”, in his first comments on a scandal that has shaken the Communist Party. Bo Guagua posted a statement on his Tumblr account on Saturday, a day after state media announced his father would “face justice” for a litany of alleged crimes including abuse of power, taking bribes and improper sexual relations. Bo, who graduated from Harvard University’s Kennedy School this year,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1050793/bo-guagua-defends-father-bo-xilai-upright-and-devoted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1050793/bo-guagua-defends-father-bo-xilai-upright-and-devoted?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Sep 2012 05:24:21 +0000 While Bo Xilai received bribes worth more than 20 million yuan (HK$24.5 million), it was the greed of his wife that brought down the former Politburo member, an internal Communist Party investigation has found, according to sources. Bo, the party chief of Chongqing until his removal from official posts in March, was expelled by the Politburo from the party on Friday after the conclusion of the internal investigation. The National People's Congress is now preparing his formal expulsion from the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1050486/party-reveals-bo-xilai-graft-blames-gu-kailai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1050486/party-reveals-bo-xilai-graft-blames-gu-kailai?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Bo Xilai what? In short, the official statement released on Friday by Xinhua links Bo to both Neil Heywood's murder and Wang Lijun's attempted "defection" to the United States, and alludes to criminal activity of his most recently while head of Chongqing, while serving as China's Minister of Commerce beginning in the mid-2000s, and potentially going all the way back to 1992 when Bo became mayor of Dalian, Liaoning province. Bo had inappropriate sex with a number of women who weren't his wife. Bo... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1050277/will-implication-bo-xilais-crimes-get-gu-kailai-executed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1050277/will-implication-bo-xilais-crimes-get-gu-kailai-executed?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:12:19 +0000 China’s ruling Communist Party accused disgraced politician Bo Xilai of abusing power, taking huge bribes and other crimes on Friday, sealing the fate of a controversial leader whose fall shook a leadership handover due at a congress from November 8. The once high-flying Bo now faces a criminal investigation that stemmed from a murder scandal, and will almost certainly be jailed. With the Communist Party congress about six weeks away, further steps in the case could come before then, experts... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1049559/bo-xilai-face-multiple-charges-expelled-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1049559/bo-xilai-face-multiple-charges-expelled-party?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:12:05 +0000 During the trial of the Gang of Four in the winter of 1980, Jiang Qing delivered a two-hour tirade in her own defence, during which she famously described herself as a dog of Mao Zedong. More than 30 years later, another political wife stood accused in a Chinese court of law, one believed to have been similarly corrupted by the power wielded by her husband. But there were no hysterics from Gu Kailai, the wife of former Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai. Handed a suspended death sentence for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1048748/china-doesnt-need-more-show-trials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1048748/china-doesnt-need-more-show-trials?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A high-profile forensic expert with the mainland's top prosecutorial body has publicly challenged the official account of the cause of death of British businessman Neil Heywood, whose murder triggered the country's biggest political scandal in two decades. Wang Xuemei , a forensic medical expert with the Supreme People's Procuratorate, wrote on her blog on Wednesday that she questioned whether Heywood had been poisoned by cyanide, as announced after the trial of Gu Kailai , who was given a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1048972/forensic-expert-rejects-cyanide-explanation-heywoods-death?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1048972/forensic-expert-rejects-cyanide-explanation-heywoods-death?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 In a long blog post published last night, Wang Xuemei, one of China's top forensic doctors with the Supreme People's Procuratorate, thoroughly dismisses the official cause of Neil Heywood's death late last year. Initially attributed to alcohol poisoning, Heywood's death was later recast as the result of cyanide poisoning based on evidence provided by Wang Lijun.  Wang starts by expressing "deep regret" over nearly every stage in Heywood's murder trial, from the investigation to the charges... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1048524/chinas-top-female-forensic-doctor-rejects-official-cause-death-cited?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1048524/chinas-top-female-forensic-doctor-rejects-official-cause-death-cited?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Sep 2012 05:25:26 +0000 Bo Xilai: chief secretary of Chongqing from 2007- 2012. Bo, 63, was the son of a senior Communist Party leader. Before the scandal, he had been widely expected to become a member of Standing Committee of the Politburo after the 18th party congress. Gu Kailai: Bo Xilai’s second wife. Aged 53, Gu is the youngest of five daughters of the famous revolutionary general. A fluent English speaker, Gu was a successful lawyer, businesswoman, and author. She became famous for publishing a book about her... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1046068/timeline-chongqing-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1046068/timeline-chongqing-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:22:06 +0000 Former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun – who exposed China’s worst political scandal in a decade – was sentenced to 15 years on Monday morning for defection and other crimes at a court in Chengdu. Wang stood trial last week in the southwestern city in Sichuan province, where he sought asylum at a US consulate in February after falling out with former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai. Wang was sentenced to seven years for bending the law for selfish ends, two years for attempted defection, two... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1045866/ex-police-chief-wang-lijun-sentenced-15-years-over-bo-xilai-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1045866/ex-police-chief-wang-lijun-sentenced-15-years-over-bo-xilai-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:38:25 +0000 Wang Lijun is to be sentenced today. What fate awaits Bo Xilai? Last night, civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang preempted today's verdict by insinuating, through his microblog account, that Wang's sentence will not reflect the severity or extent of abuses of power for which he was responsible during his time as Bo's right-hand man in Chongqing. Authorities have indicated that Wang will receive a reduced sentence on the charge of "bending the law for personal gain" due to an important contribution he... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1045832/wang-lijuns-sentence-may-be-much-lighter-you-think?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1045832/wang-lijuns-sentence-may-be-much-lighter-you-think?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Sep 2012 23:30:40 +0000 Lurid details brought to light by the trials of Bo Xilai's two closest confidants have begun to raise serious questions about the disgraced Politburo member's fate - the ultimate climax of the mainland's biggest political thriller in decades. Although many expect Beijing to hand down a verdict on the former Chongqing party boss before the once-in-a-decade leadership change in the next month or so, political experts remain divided about what his future holds. Evidence presented last month in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1041869/bo-xilais-fate-unknown-revelations-emerge-confidants-trials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1041869/bo-xilais-fate-unknown-revelations-emerge-confidants-trials?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:00:00 +0000 As the high-flying Communist Party chief of Chongqing and a former Commerce Minister, Bo Xilai had been expected by many to take a seat on the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee in the Chinese leadership transition this autumn. But Bo’s political fortunes came to an abrupt end after his police chief Wang Lijun fled into the US consulate in February, and revealed that Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, had murdered British business partner Neil Heywood.  Weeks later, the 62-year-old 'princeling' of... https://www.scmp.com/article/1041428/what-bo-xilai%E2%80%99s-body-language-says-about-his-power-downfall?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/1041428/what-bo-xilai%E2%80%99s-body-language-says-about-his-power-downfall?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Sep 2012 06:53:17 +0000 A former police chief at the centre of China’s biggest political scandal in decades admitted attempting to defect to the United States, and did not contest charges of bribery and illegal surveillance at his trial on Tuesday, a court official said. Wang Lijun, ex-police chief of southwestern Chongqing municipality, sought to conceal the murder of a British businessman by the wife of one of the nation’s most senior and ambitious politicians, Bo Xilai, according to an official account of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1039635/trial-ends-ex-police-chief-bo-xilai-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1039635/trial-ends-ex-police-chief-bo-xilai-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Sep 2012 01:49:05 +0000 A French architect questioned in China as part of an investigation into the country’s biggest political scandal in decades has returned to his home in Cambodia, a government official said on Friday. Patrick Henri Devillers, 52, came back to the capital, Phnom Penh, this month after helping authorities in China with their investigation of Gu Kailai, who was given a suspended death sentence on August 20 after confessing to the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. Gu, who had business links... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1027092/frenchman-bo-xilai-case-returns-cambodia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1027092/frenchman-bo-xilai-case-returns-cambodia?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:14:49 +0000 Fresh evidence of pervasive mistrust of the government is the last thing Communist Party leaders want to see as they try to paper over scandals for fear they will interfere with a looming power transition. But they are having a hard time stamping out rumours that an imposter, not the wife of a toppled party "princeling", appeared in court for her trial and sentencing in a sensational murder case, and that a man shot dead by police in Chongqing last week was not the armed robber wanted for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1021317/talk-imposters-gu-kailai-and-zhou-kehua-cases-shows-lack-trust?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1021317/talk-imposters-gu-kailai-and-zhou-kehua-cases-shows-lack-trust?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 A review of Xinhua's accounts this month of the Gu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun murder trial and Monday's sentencing revealed a trove of important information. The details included the criminal charges, the type of evidence brought forward, expert opinion and a story on the circumstances surrounding the death of British businessman Neil Heywood. When the investigation into Heywood's death was first announced on April 10 by Xinhua, the official report said, "China is a socialist country run by the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1021072/gus-case-reveals-corruption-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1021072/gus-case-reveals-corruption-power?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Aug 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Keywords: South China Sea, Nationalism, Gu Kailai, Rare earths, North Korea, Liu Xiaobo, Arctic icebreakers, Western China, Standard of living, Architecture, Consumerism, Kenya, Antigovernment punk bands.   The Diplomat -- Why the South China Sea is not a “Sudetenland Moment” -- A Deadly Brew: Resources, Nationalism, and History Ma Jian -- China’s Show Trial of the Century East Asia Forum -- China’s white paper on rare earths 2point6billion.com -- China Potentially Closing an Important... https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1019875/morning-clicks-august-21?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/blogs/article/1019875/morning-clicks-august-21?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Aug 2012 00:30:31 +0000