China stomps on 'body double' rumours over Gu Kailai murder trial
AFP
August 22, 201211:13PM
Gu Kailai's more rounded appearance while on trial for the murder of a British businessman has lead to rumours it was a body double who actually appeared in court, above. Source: AP
CHINA has blockediInternet searches for the term "body double" after web users expressed suspicions that convicted murderer Gu Kailai used a stand-in at her court hearings.
Chinese state television on Monday showed a brief clip of Gu, wife of the disgraced former Communist party leader Bo Xilai, standing in the dock as she was convicted and sentenced for the murder of a British businessman.
But her appearance - looking notably plumper than in earlier photographs that have appeared in foreign media - sparked suspicions that the woman in court might actually have been someone else.
Some overseas Chinese websites even alleged the person who appeared in court was a woman called Zhao Tianshao, from northern China's Langfang city.
China's censors moved quickly to muzzle the rumours and the term "ti shen", or body double, remains blocked on many popular websites in the country.
A search for the combined terms "ti shen" and "Gu Kailai" on Baidu, the top search engine in China, returned a line saying "part of the search results are not displayed according to relevant laws and policies".
Sina Weibo, a microblogging service similar to Twitter, which is banned in China, blocked any postings that mentioned "ti shen".
It is not the first time that a high-profile defendant has been accused of using a stand-in in China.
In 2009 there were suspicions that the son of a wealthy businessman who ran over and killed a young man had used a stand-in at his trial, after he appeared noticeably heavier than in pictures taken at the scene of the accident.
China's state-run media have stuck to official accounts of the Gu murder case, which brought down her politician husband and rattled the Communist party before a handover of power due to start later this year.
