Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), the son of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Politburo member and former Chongqing Municipal Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai (薄熙來), used his British passport to make a low-key entry into Taiwan on a flight originating in Canada.
He is set to marry the granddaughter of former political heavyweight Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政), the founder of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital in Yilan County’s Luodong Township (羅東).
Bo Xilai is a former high-ranking CCP official who was once a challenger to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the chairmanship of the CCP. That makes Bo Guagua a bona fide “third-generation red” child, who is set to become the Hsu patriarch’s grandson-in-law.
The Mainland Affairs Council has said that Bo Guagua’s entry into Taiwan is lawful and that national security agencies are in control of the situation. The council did not use national security as a reason to refuse his entry into the country, nor has it commented further on his visit. The relative silence surrounding the situation contributes to suspicions.
The hospital is closely tied to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and has long been nicknamed the “Poh-ai Party Headquarters.” Former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) is said to be Hsu’s goddaughter. As a former legislator, she has been accused of proposing several budget cuts to National Yang-ming University Hospital — Poh-ai Hospital’s largest competitor in the area.
The Hsu family’s businesses, including the Lo-Hsu Foundation and Bo ai Enterprise, have had powerful pan-blue heavyweights, such as former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰), Yilan County KMT chairwoman Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) and former Taipei Department of Information director Lo Chih-cheng (羅智成), serve in important posts.
It is clear that the Hsu family and the pan-blue camp are closely connected. Even today, the Hsu clan holds power in Yilan County.
Bo Guagua’s cross-strait marriage is a test of loyalty for Xi. In 2012, Bo Guagua’s father, once a popular contender for the CCP leadership and Xi’s greatest political rival, was accused of corruption and expelled from the party, giving Xi an opening to secure the chairmanship. The next year, Bo Xilai was sentenced to life imprisonment on corruption charges.
The contest for the chairmanship painted many CCP officials as little more than a horde of conspiring enemies in Xi’s eyes, in particular former Chinese head of national security Zhou Yongkang (周永康), convicted in 2015 of bribery, and Bo Xilai.
Since his father’s downfall, Bo Guagua has kept a low profile.
After more than 10 years in the West, he graduated from a top-tier university. His sudden appearance has drawn great attention. It is certain to touch upon the extremely fragile nerves of an authoritarian leader who must be filled with trepidation that enemies are colluding in the shadows to take advantage of China’s economic crises to bolster turmoil within its borders.
The office of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was quick to deny ever receiving a wedding invitation, while the “red” media started sweeping the significance of Bo Guagua’s trip under the rug, claiming that the Hsu family had faded from politics.
All this goes to show that the KMT is trying to avoid incurring Xi’s wrath. Who would be willing to attend the wedding at the end of this month? What would be Xi’s response? It will be worth seeing how it unfolds.
It is also worth mentioning that those who oppose Xi do not necessarily oppose the CCP. It goes without saying that Bo Guagua has plenty of reasons to detest Xi, considering the terrible treatment his father has endured, but that by no means shows that he and the CCP have split ways or hold one another in enmity.
Stock phrases such as “opposing Taiwanese separatism” and “reunifying Taiwan” are points of solidarity for all CCP political factions. We would do well to remember that the enemy of our enemy is not necessarily our friend. Regardless of Bo Guagua’s intentions, allowing someone of his background to enter Taiwan is playing with fire.
Hong Tsun-ming is director of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party’s Yilan Branch and a specialist of the party’s international division.
Translated by Tim Smith
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