Son of Ousted Chinese Leader: I'm No Playboy

Bo Guagua of Harvard defends himself in letter
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Suggested by truthtella
Posted Apr 25, 2012 2:34 PM CDT
Son of Ousted Chinese Leader: I'm No Playboy
In this 2007 photo, former Chongqing Communist Party Secretary Bo Xilai, right, accompanied by wife Gu Kailai, attends the funeral for his father in Beijing.   (AP Photo/Kyodo News/China Foto Press)

The Chinese political scandal/murder investigation involving ousted official Bo Xilai and his wife has put a lot of attention on the lifestyle of their son Bo Guagua. So much so that the Harvard grad student has written to the Harvard Crimson to rebut the widely held view that he's a loves-to-party rich kid who has profited from his family's connections. All of his tuition money, for example, comes from "scholarships earned independently, and my mother’s generosity from the savings she earned from her years as a successful lawyer and writer," he writes.

In another section, he asserts:

  • "I have never driven a Ferrari. 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. ..."
ABC News provides some context for this one: An "oft-told" story has it that Bo once zipped over in a Ferrari to the Beijing residence of then-Ambassador Jon Huntsman to pick up one of his daughters for dinner. (More Harvard stories.)

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