Bo Xilai's son defends father as 'upright and devoted to duty'

Expelled Chinese Communist Party leader Bo Xilai, accused of graft and sexual misconduct, today got overwhelming support from his lone son, who described him as "upright in his beliefs and devoted to duty".

Bo Guagua, a Harvard graduate, also questioned the spate of charges slapped against his father, once a party strongman tipped for promotion to CPC's highest echelons of power.

US-based Bo Guagua said, "Personally, it is hard for me to believe the allegations that were announced against my father, because they contradict everything I have come to know about him throughout my life."

"Although the policies my father enacted are open to debate, the father I know is upright in his beliefs and devoted to duty," Bo Guagua said in a statement on his Tumblr account which was quoted by the Wall Street Journal today.

He sent a link to the statement in an email response today to a request for comment, the newspaper said.

"He (Bo) has always taught me to be my own person and to have concern for causes greater than ourselves. I have tried to follow his advice. At this point, I expect the legal process to follow its normal course, and I will await the result," the statement said.

Bo Guagua is the only son of Bo and his second wife Gu Kailai.

Bo, 63, is set to face trial following his expulsion from the Communist Party of China ahead of its once in a decade change in top leadership in November.

Gu has already been given suspended death sentence in the murder of British Businessman Neil Heywood which took place in China's Chongqing city in November last year.

Gu who admitted to poison Heywood in confessions said the Briton threatened the safety of her son after falling out over a business deal.

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