Sat, Apr 21, 2012 page6

• UK lawmakers probe China murder case

  CLARIFICATION: An official said that although ministers were not usually told about the deaths of British nationals overseas, the government had pushed China to investigate

  • Reuters, LONDON
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Lawmakers asked the British government on Thursday about rumors that a businessman whose murder sparked political upheaval in China may have been a spy and demanded to know why it took so long for ministers to be told of suspicions about his death.

  Police in China initially attributed the death of Neil Heywood, 41, in a hotel room in the Chinese city of Chongqing in November last year, to cardiac arrest caused by over-consumption of alcohol.

  However, this month -authorities said they believed it was a murder and named the wife of Bo Xilai (薄熙來), the former Communist Party chief of Chongqing city, as a suspect.

  The British Foreign Office has since come under fire at home for being slow to demand that China investigate the case.

  British media have also speculated that Heywood may have been a British spy, but Heywood’s relatives and a British security source have denied there were any grounds for such rumors.

  Richard Ottaway, chairman of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to British Foreign Secretary William Hague demanding clarification.

  “I would be grateful if you would make clear what relationship the British consulate-general [in] Chongqing or the British Embassy in Beijing had with Mr Heywood before his death,” wrote Ottaway, who is a member of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party.

  “Did he supply the British consulate or embassy with information, either on a formal or informal basis?” he asked.

  The Foreign Office said it would reply in full to the letter within a week, as requested by Ottaway, but said it did not comment on intelligence issues.

  “However we can confirm Mr Heywood was not an employee of the British government,” a spokeswoman said.

  A security source said Heywood did not work for, or have a relationship with, Britain’s intelligence services.

  Hague released a detailed account this week of the British government’s involvement in the Heywood case to counter accusations from politicians that it had not acted quickly enough to make its concerns public.

  “We see nothing improper or inconsistent in what he [Hague] said ... but we would like a bit more flesh on the bones,” Ottaway said.

  Chinese officials notified British diplomats of Heywood’s death on Nov. 16, according to Hague’s account. Foreign Office officials first heard on Jan. 18 about rumors among British expatriates in China that there may have been suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

  However, Hague was not told about the case until Feb. 7, the day after Wang Lijun (王立軍), Bo’s once-trusted police chief, fled to a US consulate in an apparent attempt to secure asylum, alleging that Bo’s wife was involved in Heywood’s death.

  “Why were earlier rumors about Mr Heywood’s death, which reached [Foreign Office] staff in January, not communicated to ministers immediately?” Ottaway said.

  The Foreign Affairs Committee has the power to open an inquiry and hold hearings into Heywood’s death. Asked if it would do so, Ottaway said: “Let’s wait and see.”

  Heywood was poisoned after he threatened to expose a plan by Bo’s wife to move money abroad, two sources with knowledge of a Chinese police investigation said this week.

  On Tuesday, Hague said that ministers were not routinely told about the death of British nationals abroad, but insisted that the government pressed repeatedly for an investigation.

  “We have asked for, we have demanded, an investigation. The Chinese authorities have agreed to conduct such an investigation,” Hague said. “We are pursuing this extremely carefully, but vigorously.”
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Eurovision Song Contest triggers surge in betting interest

  • 2

    Barcelona crowned champions

  • 3

    Napoli close in on title despite Parma stalemate

  • 4

    Sinner cruises past Ruud, Gauff battles into final

  • 5

    ‘Beitou Shilin’ announced as new Nvidia office site