The announcement in mid-March that Bo Xilai had been stripped of his political posts has exposed the former high-flying Chongqingparty chief to the glare of publicity, shining attention on his family’s links to a web of foreign companies.

These assets have been traced to Hong Kong and elsewhere, and to large mainland state-owned firms and leading foreign businessmen, raising questions about the scale of Bo’s alleged corruption and the complicity of his family, particularly his wife, Gu Kailai .

Gu Kailai’s eldest sister, Gu Wangjiang , for example, is a starting point for a trail that extends from Hong Kong to Malaysia and the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian , where Bo was mayor. Under her Cantonese name Kuk Mong Kong, Gu Wangjiang operates several companies in Hong Kong, including one that was previously a joint venture with a big Malaysian conglomerate and another that is an existing joint…