Li Danyu and her son, Li Wangzhi
8 October 2012. Chinese politician Bo Xilai suspected a plot to poison his second wife and thought that his son by his first marriage was involved, a report said Sunday. The second wife Gu Kailai was herself convicted in August of fatally poisoning a British businessman. Bo’s ex-wife Li Danyu told New York Times that months before Bo fell, he told her brother he had forensic evidence of a plot to kill Gu, his current wife. Bo reportedly said the suspected his own son Li Wangzhi also known as Brendan Li along with his ex-wife Li Danyu were behind the plot. Li is a graduate of Columbia University and works in finance in Beijing. Li Danyu said she believed that Gu was behind the accusations against her son. “She can be that paranoid,” the paper quoted her as saying. Li and Bo met in 1975, towards the end of the Cultural Revolution. Their son was born in 1977 and their divorce was finalised in 1984. Mr He Guoqiang, head of the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in his annual address on party discipline on Monday cited the investigation into Mr Bo as one of the recent successes of the party’s efforts to uncover “major disciplinary violations.” Mr Bo was expelled from the party on 28 September 2012 and was accused of offences ranging from corruption to illicit sexual affairs as it tried to sweep away a scandal that had threatened to overshadow the forthcoming leadership transition. It was also announced that a key party congress would begin on 8 November 2012 to usher in a new generation of leaders. No date has been set for Bo’s trial.
