Bo Xilai's Famous Mistress Was Hounded by Gu Kailai
By wchung | 02 May, 2025

Bo Xilai’s wife Gu Kailai used her authority over security forces to drive one of her husband’s mistresses to several suicide attempts, according to the New York-based Chinese language news site Mingjing.

The woman was Zhang Weijie, a Dalian news anchor who had been the mistress of the ousted Chongqing party boss while he was mayor of that city during the 1990s. Zhang has a daughter believed to have been fathered by Bo.

Zhang is said to have accepted 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in hush money from Xu Ming, chairman of the Dalian Shide Group, a close Bo ally and now facing a central government probe into bribery allegations. Zhang is said to be moving from place to place incognito to protect herself and her daughter from the media.

Zhang was the most famous of the many mistresses Bo is rumored to have kept while mayor of Dalian, a major port and industrial city in northeast China. At that time Zhang’s position with Bo was so secure and notorious that she is said to have once asked her boss,“Do you have any information that you want me to convey? I’ll see (Bo) Xilai tonight.”

Rumors of Bo’s relationship provoked Gu to launch a secret campaign to bring about Zhang’s ouster from her news anchor job by writing pieces about her under a pen name. Gu also used her authority over Dalian security officials to pressure Zhang to leave her job and the city. Zhang is said to have been secretly detained in Dalian Nanshan Hotel where she made several suicide attempts.

Gu is currently facing a probe for the murder of British citizen Neil Heywood and possibly four other people.