China: Bo’s son denies living a life of fast cars and wild parties

The son of Chinese politician Bo Xilai has spoken out for the first time since his father’s fall from power and mother’s arrest for murder, expressing deep concern for his parents and responding to reports about his lavish lifestyle and questions over who funded his overseas schooling.

His mother, Gu Kailai, has been detained on suspicion of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, while his father has been stripped of his Communist Party Politburo seat and placed under investigation for disciplinary violations, in the biggest crisis to shake China’s leadership in two decades.

In e-mails published by a student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, Bo Guagua said he felt compelled to provide “an account of the facts” to refute speculation about his private and family life.

“I am deeply concerned about the events surrounding my family, but I have no comments to make regarding the ongoing investigation,” Mr Bo wrote.

His whereabouts are unclear after reports he left his Harvard flat within days of his father’s fall.

Even before his parents’ troubles, Bo Guagua, 24, had become the subject of gossip in China for his elite schooling and perceived extravagance. Media reported a fondness for luxury cars and raised questions about how the family could afford to send him to some of the world’s top schools and universities, including Harrow, Oxford and Harvard, on his father’s limited state salary.

He became the focus of online gossip when photos appeared of him bare-chested and smeared with lipstick at a party, and participating in college pranks in Britain.

Mr Bo said it was impossible to address all the rumours and allegations made about him but he would zero in on the “most pertinent”, including a report that he had driven a Ferrari to pick up the daughter of the US ambassador at his residence.

“I have never driven a Ferrari,” he wrote in the e-mails. “I have also not been to the US embassy in Beijing since 1998 (when I obtained a previous US visa), nor have I ever been to the US ambassador’s residence in China.”

He also sought to dampen speculation over financial improprieties involving his tuition fees.

“My tuition and living expenses at Harrow School, University of Oxford and Harvard University were funded exclusively by two sources – scholarships earned independently, and my mother’s generosity from the savings she earned from her years as a successful lawyer and writer,” he said.

Mr Bo also provided details on his academic record, saying his examination records were solid throughout his schooling years and that he had graduated from Oxford with good, but not outstanding, marks.

He sought to explain the wilder image of himself seen in the widely circulated photos, saying they were college-organised parties commonly attended by students at Oxford.

“Most students take part in these college-wide activities,” he wrote.