Taiwan says son of jailed former senior Chinese official Bo Xilai is visiting

TAIPEI - Taiwan's government said on Thursday that the son of jailed former senior Chinese leader Bo Xilai was visiting the island for personal reasons after marrying a Taiwan citizen, a rare trip for someone linked to China's political elite.

Bo, once considered a contender for China's top leadership, was jailed for life in 2013 after being found guilty of corruption and abuse of power in a dramatic fall from grace linked to the killing of British businessman Neil Heywood. Bo's wife was found guilty of murdering Heywood and is also in jail in China.

Liang Wen-chieh, spokesperson for Taiwan's China policy making Mainland Affairs Council, told a regular news briefing in Taipei that Bo's son Bo Guagua's visit to Taiwan was related to his marriage to a Taiwanese citizen.

"He is a mainland Chinese person, and after marrying someone from Taiwan applied in accordance with our rules to come to Taiwan for a family reunion," Liang said.

Such family reunions are "common practice in human relations" and so the application had been handled in a normal way, he added.

"Just because his family name is Bo, the Taiwan government can't really stop him from coming."

Bo Guagua had already married overseas, Liang said, without giving details.

Reuters was not able to contact the Oxford and Harvard-educated Guagua for comment. He has lived outside China and kept a low profile since his parents were jailed. It is not known if he has returned to China during that time.

Reuters was also not able to confirm whom he had married.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.

China's government, which views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, refuses to deal directly with the Taiwanese government. It views President Lai Ching-te as a "separatist", and senior Chinese officials do not visit the island. Lai and his government reject China's sovereignty claims.

Liang said whether or not China was displeased Bo Guagua was in Taiwan was not something for the government to consider.

"As for the attitude of the Chinese communists, you can notice that on their internet as soon as those three characters appear they vanish, they get blocked," he added, referring to the Bo name and online censorship in China.

Media in Taiwan reported Bo Guagua's arrival on the island last week. REUTERS