Li Wangzhi, the eldest son of ousted Politburo member Bo Xilai, rejected suggestions he used his father’s position for personal gain and said the downfall of a man he hasn’t seen in five years had destroyed his life.
Li, 34, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the last time he saw his father was at the funeral of his grandfather, Bo Yibo, in early 2007, and he hasn’t had any contact with him since. The former Citigroup Inc. (C) banker, who later went into private equity, said he was in China and not under detention.
前中央政治局委员薄熙来(专题)的长子李望知抱怨称自己的生活被一个五年未谋面的人的倒台摧毁了。他撇清自己没有以父亲的权位为自己谋利。
34岁的李望知在昨日接受电话采访时称，自己与父亲薄熙来(专题)上一次见面是在5年前，即2007年薄一波的葬礼上，且在此之后就没再联系过。李望知曾在花旗银行任职，后转为私人股本投资。他指出，自己在中国，自由并未受限制。
Li’s comments seek to dispel speculation he profited from the position of his father, who was suspended earlier this month from the ruling Politburo. The ouster of Bo and the arrest of his wife on suspicion of murder have heightened scrutiny of the family’s business interests and sparked China’s deepest political crisis since the 1989 Tiananmen uprising.
“This incident has destroyed my life,” said Li, who also goes by the name Brendan Li. “I have no way to control how others think, but I have no desire to bask in his glow,” he said, referring to his father.
李望知的评论意在消除公众舆论关于他通过父亲的权势获利的推断。薄熙来(专题)的下台与其妻谷开来面临的杀人指控提高了外界对薄家商业利益的关注度，并引发了中国至1989年天安门事件以来最严重的政治危机。
“这件事毁了我的生活，”李望知说，他还有个英文名字叫布伦丹·李。 “我也没有办法控制别人怎么想，但我无意沉浸在他（薄熙来）的荫庇中。”
Bo Xilai’s wife, Gu Kailai, was taken into custody for involvement in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, Xinhua News Agency reported April 10. The state-run agency said Gu and Heywood had “a conflict over economic interests.” Bo, 62, who was suspended as Communist Party chief of the municipality of Chongqing last month, has been accused of “serious violations of discipline,” the agency said.
根据新华社4月10日发布的新闻，薄熙来的妻子，谷开来已被羁押。她被控卷入对英商海伍德的谋杀。
No Contact
Li said he didn’t know Heywood or the relationship between Heywood and the Bo family, and said his mother, Li Danyu, has not had any contact with her ex-husband in three decades. Li Danyu and Bo divorced when Li Wangzhi was a child. Li said he left the Bo family “a long time ago.”
Since Bo’s ouster from his posts, details of his extended family’s wealth and business dealings have emerged that show businesses from China to the Caribbean, the U.S. and U.K.
李望知说，他并不知道海伍德与薄家之间的关系。他的母亲李丹宇也说，她已有30年没有与前夫薄熙来联系了。她和薄熙来离婚时，李望知还只是个孩子。“他（李望知）已离开薄家很久了。”
自从薄熙来从高位落马以来，其背后大家庭的财富和生意往来的细节被揭露出来，从中国到加勒比海地区，以及英美。
“The spouses and children of some cadres have taken advantage of their power to seek personal gains, disregarding the law, thus stirring public outcry,” state-run Xinhua News Agency said in an April 14 commentary, four days after reporting that Bo had been suspended from the Politburo.
“It’s an obvious fact that my family name isn’t Bo,” Li said when contacted on his mobile phone number.
在报道薄熙来倒台的消息四天后，新华社曾批评“一些干部的配偶与孩子利用权力为自己谋利，罔顾法律，使舆论哗然”。
“我并不姓薄，这是一个显然的事实。”李望知说。
Guagua, Xiyong
Bo Xilai’s removal has altered the lives of his extended family, including that of Li’s half-brother and Harvard University student Bo Guagua, 24, and their uncle Bo Xiyong. The uncle on April 25 resigned from Hong Kong-listed alternative energy company China Everbright International Ltd. (257), where he served as vice chairman. Li said he hasn’t had any contact with other Bo family members since the funeral.
Bo Guagua denied reports in newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and Daily Telegraph that he led a lavish lifestyle, which included driving a red Ferrari and expensive schooling beyond the means of his father’s salary as a party official. He made the comments in a statement published April 24 in the Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.
薄熙来的变化已经影响到这个大家庭的生活，包括李望知在哈佛念博士的同父异母兄弟薄瓜瓜和他们的叔叔薄熙永。薄熙永在4月25日辞去了在香港上市的中国光大国际有限公司副主席一职。李望知说，自薄一波的葬礼后，他与薄家人并无任何联系。
薄瓜瓜则在哈佛学报上发表了声明，反驳关于他开红色法拉利的奢侈生活超出其父工资水平的新闻报道。
The grandfather of Bo Guagua and Li Wangzhi is a former vice premier of China who died in 2007. The family patriarch was one of the so-called eight immortals who helped steer China after the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution.
After graduating from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York in 2003 with a master’s degree, Li worked for Citigroup. He wouldn’t comment about his time at the New York-based bank, saying he had signed a confidentiality agreement.
薄瓜瓜与李望知在2007年去世的爷爷薄一波曾任中国副总理，作为家族的元老，他也是带领文革后的中国“过海”的“八仙”之一。
2003年从哥伦比亚大学国际和公共事务学院毕业后，李望知进入花旗集团工作。他拒绝评论在那里工作的日子，称自己已签署了保密协议。
After leaving Citigroup he began a career in private equity. He said investments he made in Dalian, where his father was mayor for much of the 1990s, were not very successful.
离开花旗之后，李望知开始了私人股本投资。他说，在他父亲担任大连市长的90年代，他在大连的投资并不成功。
Li, who said he hasn’t worked since February, is linked to Chong’er Investment & Consultancy Co. by office and e-mail addresses. Chong’er was a Chinese prince in the seventh century B.C. who fled his home in the ancient state of Jin, modern-day Shanxi province and the ancestral home of the Bo, Li and Gu families, because his father made his half-brother the crown prince. Chong’er eventually fought back and took the crown.
自称二月起就没有工作的李望知，与“重耳”投资顾问公司有关联。重耳是公元前7世纪薄、李、谷的故乡的一位王子。他因同父异母的兄弟而出逃流亡，并最终夺回了王位。
Referring to Bo Xilai, he said: “I also want to know if he’s safe.
“I look forward to seeing a fair conclusion to this case,” Li said. “My country’s government will make the correct judgment.”
谈到薄熙来时，李望知说，我也想知道他现在是否安好。
“我期待着看到这个案子的公正结论”，李望知说，“我国政府将作出正确的判断。”
