The Chinese widow of a British businessman thought to have been murdered in a case that has rocked China’s political establishment has been gagged by local police, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Neil Heywood, 41, was found dead in his hotel room in China’s southwestern city of Chongqing in November last year. The family initially did not suspect foul play, but in a stunning twist, state media announced that Gu Kailai (谷開來), wife of Chongqing’s disgraced Communist Party boss, Bo Xilai (薄熙來), and a household assistant were “highly suspected” of killing Heywood and have been detained.
Heywood’s widow, Wang Lulu (王露露), who lives with her two children in a gated community of expensive villas on the outskirts of Beijing, has not commented publicly about the case. State media cited a dispute over unspecified “economic interests” between Gu and Heywood.
“Police officers questioned her recently and warned her not to speak to foreign media,” the source with direct knowledge of the case told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
He declined to speculate why police gagged her. Chinese authorities customarily warn families of jailed dissidents and crime suspects not to talk to the media.
Asked what Wang’s views were after the revelation implicating Gu in the scandal, another source close to the family said: “It’s still difficult to believe. It was absolutely not necessary. The two families were very close. She [Gu] was the godmother of [Heywood’s] children.”
Heywood’s 11-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son attend an international school in Beijing.
Before his fall, Bo, 62 was widely seen as a contender for a post in China’s top leadership committee, which will be decided later this year.
He was suspended this week from the party politburo and Central Committee and is being questioned by anti-graft investigators. His wife, Gu, who turns 52 this year, has yet to be indicted. They have disappeared from public view. Their son, Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), is studying at Harvard University.
The scandal came to light after Bo’s estranged vice-mayor, Wang Lijun (王立軍), sought asylum at the US consulate in nearby Chengdu in February, after confronting Bo with his suspicions about Heywood’s death.
China’s propaganda machine has gone full blast to discredit the charismatic and contentious Bo. State media have urged the party’s 80 million members, civil servants, the 2.3 million People’s Liberation Army and public to fall in line and not to question the findings of the case, apparently to avoid a split in their ranks.
Last month, Heywood’s bereaved relatives in Beijing and London, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters in separate interviews they did not suspect foul play at the time and denied media speculation that Heywood was cremated against their wishes.
Chongqing police had initially attributed death to cardiac arrest due to over-consumption of alcohol, but the British embassy in Beijing asked China to reopen investigations into the case.
Heywood’s family said then he was not a heavy drinker, but a chain smoker and that his father, Peter, also died of a heart attack after drinks over dinner at his London home in 2004 at age 63.
The British embassy had requested a meeting with the widow on Thursday.
Embassy spokespeople had no immediate comment.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese