Gu Kailai
27 July 2012. The wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai and a family aide, Zhang Xiaojun, have been charged with the murder of a British businessman Neil Heywood. State-run Xinhua news agency reported that the prosecutor’s indictment said Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, had a falling out with British businessman over money and was worried that it would threaten her and their son’s safety. They are alleged to have poisoned Heywood. Heywood’s death in November was attributed initially to a heart attack or excessive drinking. His body was found in a hotel in Chongqing. “The facts of the two defendants’ crime are clear, and the evidence is irrefutable and substantial. Therefore, the two defendants should be charged with intentional homicide,” Xinhua said. This announcement came a little over a week after Patrick Devillers, a French architect said to have been close to Gu, travelled to China to assist in the official inquiry. Devillers, 52, is understood to have been a business associate and friend of Bo and his wife, although his exact role is unclear. Cambodian officials and the French foreign ministry have stressed it was Devillers’ own choice to help Beijing with its investigation. China has so far made no comment. Reuters had earlier reported that Gu killed Heywood to cover up her plans to move money to international accounts. The wire said Gu “asked Heywood late last year to move a large sum of money abroad, and she became outraged when he demanded a larger cut of the money than she had expected due to the size of the transaction,” citing “two sources with knowledge of the police investigation.” “She accused him of being greedy and hatched a plan to kill him after he said he could expose her dealings, one of the sources said.” According to the New York Times. Heywood helped Bo’s son gain admittance to a prestigious school in England. Earlier, other reports indicated that Gu and her son Bo Guagua were close to the British businessman. Bo Guagua had graduated from Harvard University. Although this story was the top online topic in the country, web users’ attempts to discuss the story were blocked. China’s most popular micro blog Sina Weibo also blocked all discussions on the topic. It said that they were barred from doing so by “relevant laws and policies”, while attempts to search for Gu Kailai’s name and her initials were also blocked. Bo is thought to be under house arrest and is being investigated for corruption. He has been stripped of his senior positions with the ruling Communist Party, although he remains a member. Before his ouster, Bo was one of China’s most powerful and charismatic politicians. The son of a revolutionary veteran, Bo was seen as a leading candidate for a position in the Politburo Standing Committee, the highest ranks of power, when a younger group of leaders is installed later this year. The removal of Bo has triggered rifts and uncertainty, disrupting the Communist Party’s carefully choreographed process of settling on a new central leadership in the run up to its 18th congress. The whole scandal was triggered by Bo’s key ally and Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun’s seeking asylum in US consulate in Chengdu in February after he was demoted.
