Scandal-hit Chinese politician hits back at his former top aide

Courtroom revelations in the politically charged trial have already exposed the unravelling of one of China’s elite families, with Bo calling his wife “crazy” after she testified against him and saying she took their son abroad in fury after he had been unfaithful.

Bo told the Jinan Intermediate People’s Court that his former right-hand man “was a person of very vile quality who first, lied in court, and secondly, muddied the waters”.

At the close of the hearing, the court said all evidence had been presented and the trial was adjourned until today.

The ruling Communist Party is using the trial against Bo to cap a major political scandal unleashed last year when his aide fled to a US consulate bearing revelations that Bo’s wife had killed a British businessman, Neil Heywood.

That scandal led to Bo’s ousting as Politburo member and party leader of the southern city of Chongqing, making him the most senior leader to fall from power in years. His purge is being cemented by criminal charges of abusing his power by interfering in the murder investigation and trying to hide the defection, as well as netting $4.3m (£2.7m) through corruption.

High-profile trials of senior leaders are regarded as the result of backroom negotiations, with the outcome decided by politicians and carried out by courts. Still, Bo has mounted an unexpectedly spirited defence, recanting earlier confessions, disputing evidence against him and calling his 
wife, who testified against him, “crazy”.

Court proceedings on Saturday centred on events around the time when Bo’s former top aide, Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun, drove to the American consulate in the nearby city of Chengdu in February 2012, fearing for his safety after he told Bo about the murder.

Bo told the court that he reacted angrily to Wang’s report, slapping the police chief in the face because he thought Wang was framing his wife for the crime. “I thought he was being duplicitous. I have zero tolerance for duplicity,” Bo said. “I slapped him in the face.”

State television showed the two men seated in the courtroom – Bo in the dock and Wang in the witness stand – in a picture that stood in stark contrast to their glory days not so long ago when they were China’s most famous gang-busting, law-bending duo.

Now, the police chief is serving time behind bars and the politician is fighting a similar fate.

Wang, who also testified on Saturday, said the violent confrontation with Bo, his subsequent removal as police chief and the disappearance of his subordinates who were investigating the murder spurred him to flee to American officials for safety. He said Bo did not slap him as much as punch him hard, causing his mouth to bleed.

“It was dangerous at the time,” Wang told the court. “I was subject to violence, and my staff working closely with me and those working on the case disappeared.”

Wang said he believed Bo had ordered an investigation into the police officers involved in the murder case to try to shield his wife, Gu Kailai.

Bo denied trying to cover up the murder, and in questioning Wang forced him to respond that the police chief had known in advance of Gu’s intentions to carry out the crime. For covering up the murder and other offences, Wang was last year given 15 years in prison.

In testimony on Saturday, Bo denied allegations that he had embezzled £514,000 in government funds in 2000, saying his wife stole the money and revealing that the couple became estranged after he was unfaithful to Gu.