SINGAPORE: The son of disgraced former high-ranking Chinese politician Bo Xilai is reportedly in Taiwan and getting married this Saturday (Nov 23), according to local media reports.
The wedding will reportedly be held in the city of Hsinchu, located southwest of the capital Taipei.
Mr Bo Guagua, 36, is the younger son of former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai, who once served as China’s Minister of Commerce and a member of the powerful Politburo before being expelled and sentenced to life in prison in 2013 for corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power.
The younger Bo had obtained permission to legally travel to Taiwan as a Chinese national, according to a report by Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) which cited official information from the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Nov 15, and is reportedly in town to visit his fiancee’s parents.
His rumoured bride is a Taiwanese woman from a well-known family in northeastern Yilan County, the CNA report said.
Taiwanese news site the Taipei Times reported that the couple had met while Mr Bo was studying abroad and had intended to marry this year.
In its statement, carried by Taiwanese media outlets, MAC officials said they were closely monitoring the situation given Mr Bo’s “unique background” and urged people to “respect his privacy and his wish to keep a low profile”.
His visa entry application would not be published out of respect for his privacy, MAC said.
While the news was censored in China, it drew interest and comments from Taiwanese netizens on Facebook, many congratulating Mr Bo on his marriage while others criticised the media’s “obsession” with his arrival.
Some even joked that the marriage between Mr Bo and his Taiwanese bride meant that two sides of the Taiwan Strait belonged to “one family” – a term used by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Mr Bo Guagua has reportedly been working as a business analyst with the Power Corporation of Canada.
He was known for his flamboyant lifestyle, photographed regularly at events, night clubs and parties, before his parents were put under investigation and has studied in several prestigious overseas universities like Oxford University in the UK as well as Harvard and Columbia in the US.
