Bo, his Wife, the Businessman and Murder

[Sheilbh]

I think this is only breaking this evening.  Pretty striking.  Any thoughts China-watchers?

Chinese politician Bo Xilai's wife accused of murdering UK businessman
Gu Kailai, wife of suspended Chongqing party secretary, 'highly suspected' of killing Neil Heywood
Tania Branigan in Beijing
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 April 2012 17.30 BST

The wife of the controversial Chinese leadership contender Bo Xilai is "highly suspected" of murdering the British businessman Neil Heywood, state media have reported, in the biggest scandal to hit the party for decades.

Gu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, who worked at the family's home, have been transferred to judicial authorities, the official news agency Xinhua reported.

Bo, once tipped to reach the nation's most powerful political body in this autumn's power transition, has been suspended from his party positions because he is suspected of "serious disciplinary violations", Xinhua reported separately. The suspension effectively ends his political career. He was dismissed as party secretary of Chongqing last month.

Britain had already asked China to investigate the death of Heywood in Chongqing last November after concerns were raised that the circumstances were suspicious. The 41-year-old businessman's family had said they believed he died of natural causes.

The statement said: "According to investigation results, Gu Kailai, wife of comrade Bo Xilai, and their son were on good terms with Heywood. However, they had conflict over economic interests, which had been intensified .

"According to reinvestigation results, the existing evidence indicated that Heywood died of homicide, of which Gu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, an orderly at Bo's home, are highly suspected."

It said the investigation had begun when Bo's ally the former police chief Wang Lijun fled to the US embassy in Chengdu in February, and flagged up Heywood's death. Wang is now under investigation by Chinese officials.

The statement added: "According to senior officials from related authorities, China is a socialist country ruled by law, and the sanctity and authority of law shall not be tramp[l]ed. Whoever has broken the law will be handled in accordance with law and will not be tolerated, no matter who is involved."

Rumours that Bo had been ousted began circulating early on Tuesday, and officials were called to meetings in the afternoon, where they were briefed on events. The 62-year-old son of a Communist "immortal" had climbed steadily through the party ranks, and many had believed he could reach the top political body, the politburo standing committee, this autumn.

The businessman's cause of death was initially reported to be alcohol poisoning.  The body was cremated very shortly afterwards though, so British requests for another investigation were somewhat stymied

[Jacob]

I'm following this very closely (and cheering). There's no love for Bo or his people in my circles.

Also recently, Wen Jiabao said that the students of Tiananmen Square were real patriots and that the party must listen to the people or be discarded... and this was reported in China as well. So... interesting developments.

[Barrister]

Wow.

I have no insight whatsoever on the situation in China, but I am reading whatever I can these days.

[Jacob]

The businessman's cause of death was initially reported to be alcohol poisoning.  The body was cremated very shortly afterwards though, so British requests for another investigation were somewhat stymied

I recall reading somewhere that Heywood wasn't much of a drinker at all, so the alcohol poisoning thing seemed a bit suspect - but I don't recall where so whether it has substance or is just random rumour mill swirl, I don't know.

[HVC]

Kind of weird that now that Bo has fallen from grace a story comes out saying "ya, his family killed that british dude"

[Sheilbh]

Also recently, Wen Jiabao said that the students of Tiananmen Square were real patriots and that the party must listen to the people or be discarded... and this was reported in China as well. So... interesting developments.

Didn't he recently call the banks in China an unhelpful monopoly that should be broken up?  I imagine that would be a direct threat to a lot of economic interests in the Chinese elite.

[Jacob]

Didn't he recently call the banks in China an unhelpful monopoly that should be broken up?  I imagine that would be a direct threat to a lot of economic interests in the Chinese elite.

Yeah that too. Interesting times in China, for sure.

[Jacob]

Kind of weird that now that Bo has fallen from grace a story comes out saying "ya, his family killed that british dude"

Absolutely.

Is killing the dude the thing that brought him down because he went too far somehow?
Did his family kill the dude, and that was the opening that allowed him to be brought down?
Did his family kill the dude and it didn't matter, except it's a nice "official" thing to pin on him as he is going down for unrelated reasons?
Or is his family completely innocent of the killing and it's being pinned on him for reasons of convenience?

... who knows?

[Jacob]

Here's the official Xinhua (CCP's paper) article: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-04/10/c_131518309.htm

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese police have set up a team to reinvestigate the case that British citizen Neil Heywood was found dead in Chongqing on Nov. 15, 2011, which was alleged by Wang Lijun who entered, without authorization, the U.S. general consulate in Chengdu on Feb. 6 and stayed there, Xinhua learned from authorities.

Police authorities paid high attention to the case, and set up the team to reinvestigate the case according to law with an attitude to seek truth from facts.

According to investigation results, Bogu Kailai, wife of Comrade Bo Xilai, and their son were in good terms with Heywood. However, they had conflict over economic interests, which had been intensified.

According to reinvestigation results, the existing evidence indicated that Heywood died of homicide, of which Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun, an orderly at Bo's home, are highly suspected.

Bogu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun have been transferred to judicial authorities on suspected crime of intentional homicide.

According to senior officials from related authorities, China is a socialist country ruled by law, and the sanctity and authority of law shall not be tramped. Whoever has broken the law will be handled in accordance with law and will not be tolerated, no matter who is involved.

[Jacob]

Apparently unrelated, a peaceful march to protest the amalgemation of two townships in Chongqing (Bo's province until recently).

It turned violent, somehow. Just one of the thousands of "mass incidents" across China every year.

Pictures (and text in Chinese): http://www.wenxuecity.com/news/2012/04/10/1717125.html

[Sheilbh]

Is killing the dude the thing that brought him down because he went too far somehow?
Did his family kill the dude, and that was the opening that allowed him to be brought down?
Did his family kill the dude and it didn't matter, except it's a nice "official" thing to pin on him as he is going down for unrelated reasons?
Or is his family completely innocent of the killing and it's being pinned on him for reasons of convenience?

... who knows?

Almost regardless of this it does look like a shift of pace against Bo.  But the publicity and punishment of a Politburo member like this does seem a step away from the Chinese equivalent of letting them retire to a Dacha.

[HVC]

Kind of weird that now that Bo has fallen from grace a story comes out saying "ya, his family killed that british dude"

Or is his family completely innocent of the killing and it's being pinned on him for reasons of convenience?

I'm going with this theory. If they had this card i'd assume they'd play it first. To me it looks like they're trying to stem the backlash. i see it more like a "see, we had to do it since his family is dishonorable" type of situation.

[Jacob]

I'm going with this theory. If they had this card i'd assume they'd play it first. To me it looks like they're trying to stem the backlash. i see it more like a "see, we had to do it since his family is dishonorable" type of situation.

What makes you say that this isn't the card that's being played first? Seems pretty fast that this came about.

And what are you talking about when you say "stem the backlash"?

[Jacob]

Almost regardless of this it does look like a shift of pace against Bo.  But the publicity and punishment of a Politburo member like this does seem a step away from the Chinese equivalent of letting them retire to a Dacha.

Yeah, definitely.

[The Minsky Moment]

Wow.

I have no insight whatsoever on the situation in China, but I am reading whatever I can these days.

Two sources I read regularly are:

Caixin Weekly - despite the name, publishes twice a month and can be sent direct to a kindle for a modest monthly fee.  The focus is on business and finance but there are regular articles on "rule of law," the internet, and the environment among others.  English language but Chinese-based publication with strong reformist tendencies, though some (self?) censorship.

http://english.caixin.com/

Another is the "China Law Blog" -- http://www.chinalawblog.com/
The focus here is obviously on legal matters, with particular attention on things like drafting contracts with Chinese counterparties, company formation issues, IP protection, and dispute resolution considerations, but it also covers broader issues.