Dark Tales Swirl About Heywood's Death. Or Do They?

choi

(1) Jeremy Page, Inside Elite Chinese Circle, Nrit Came to Fear for His Life. Wall Street Journal, Mar 31, 2012 (top half of front page).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 13410699114668.html

Quote:

"Neil Heywood, the Briton whose death in China is at the center of a Chinese political crisis, told friends he feared for his safety because he had fallen out with the wife of [Bo]

"Mr Heywood expressed concern in the months leading up to his death in November that relations had dramatically deteriorated between him and Mr Bo's wife, Gu Kailai

"The [new] accounts of Mr Heywood's safety concerns are significant because the only previous suggestion of tension between him and the Bo family stemmed from Wang Lijun

"When Mr Heywood was found dead in his hotel room in Chongqing in November, local authorities swiftly cremated his body without an autopsy

"The [UK] Foreign Office said Thursday [Mar 29] that it made the request [to China to re-open the case] in 'mid-February,' based on concerns raised inthe British community in China.

"Some people familiar with the matter have said that his wife, still in China with the couple's two children, came under pressure from local authorities.

"It is also unclear why Mr Heywood's family in Britain has recently been saying that he died of a heart attack when an autopsy hadn't been performed, and when British officials say they were told the cause related to alcohol use. Mr Heywood's parents and sister didn't respond to a request for comments.

"Another question is why the British government asked for a probe of Mr Heywood's death when his family hasn't, an unusual situation for consular matters, in which precedence is usually given to the family's wishes.

"It is unclear wha Mr Heywood, who lived in a villa in Beijing, was doing in Chongqing when he died.

Bo "Guagua went onto study at Oxford University i=and is now studying for a postgraduate degree at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He has been seen there in recent days, said several people. Attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.

"Mr Heywood said the Ms Gu became increasingly neurotic and suspicious of those around her [including Heywood himself] after she was subjected to a corruption investigation in China around the time Mr Bo was made party chief of Chongqing in 2007, according to one of Mr Heywood's friends. That friend recalled Mr Heywood as describing how Ms Gu had demanded that some in the inner circle [including Heywood himself] divorce their spouses and swear loyalty to the Bo family. This friend and others said it was unclear why Mr Heywood hadn't tried to sever the relationship and leave China.

Note: Regarding quotation 5 ("The Foreign Office said Thursday that it made the request [to China to re-open the case] in 'mid-February,' based on concerns raised inthe British community in China").

Mr Wang Lijun took flight to US consulate in Chengdu on Mar 6, 2012.


(2) Jason Lewis, Josie Ensor and Malcolm Moore, Bo Xilai, Nick Heywood and mysterious accusations of the 'White Glove.'  Sunday Telegraph, MApr 1, 2012 (available now).
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ ... he-White-Glove.html

Quote:

"Now The Sunday Telegraph has learned that the Foreign Secretary William Hague is being personally briefed on the affair and, in the US, the Vice President Joe Biden has intervened after calls for a Congressional hearing into the ensuing events.

"His [Heywood's] break came when Bo Xilai, mayor of the city of Dalian until 2000, hired him to teach his son English and he became close to the whole family - including Mr Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, a lawyer who is believed to handle much of the family business. It is this connection that is now at the centre of the intrigue.

"Heywood was highly successful. He lived in an expensive home in an affluent Beijing suburb near the former Olympic rowing park with his Chinese wife Lulu. Their young son and daughter attend the local branch of Dulwich College, one of Britain’s top schools, whose fees in China are up to £22,000 a year.

"The Foreign Office gave consular help to his grieving family. With no foul play even hinted at, Heywood was swiftly cremated, apparently at his family’s request, and his sister flew to China to take his ashes back to Britain.

'Now he [wang Lijun] apparently asked for asylum but, after wrangling between the consulate and Washington DC, was refused and forced to leave. Meanwhile an 'open letter to the whole world,' purportedly by Mr Wang, surfaced on the internet. The letter attacked Mr Bo as a 'hypocrite' and 'the greatest gangster in China' and accused him of corruption. It was most likely fake.

"Meanwhile in Washington the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs is demanding to know why such a senior Chinese official as Mr Wang was apparently turned away by US diplomats. Vice President Joe Biden is among senior figures urging them not to hold public hearings, and officials are expected to refuse to answer questions on national security grounds.

"His [Heywood's] father and his paternal grandparents all died at an early age - and several friends in Britain say Mr Heywood “looked ill” in pictures taken before his death. John Summers, Heywood’s brother-in-law, said: 'He never mentioned any problems or worries. He had lived out there for quite a while and seemed happy.'  Heywood’s 74-year-old mother Ann, who still lives in the Streatham family home where he grew up, said: 'I loved Neil very much, a mother and son could hardly have been closer. We talked several times a week on the phone and if anything was worrying him he would tell me. * * * As far as I’m concerned he died of a heart attack. It’s tragic, but nothing more.”

Note:
(a) abstemious (adj; Latin abstemius, from abs- + -temius; akin to Latin temetum intoxicating drink):
"marked by restraint especially in the consumption of food or alcohol'
www.m-w.com
(b)Take notice "Set up in 2005, its website, shut down shortly before his death." That was the website of Heywood Boddington Associates, a business Mr Heywood with "[h]is business partner for five years Chris Boddington, now a director of PWC, the international consultancy firm, in China."


(3) Malcolm Moore, 'I Think Neil Heywood Was Killed... Everyone’s Scared.’ The mystery over the death in China of Old Harrovian Neil Heywood deepens by the day, with calls for Scotland Yard to investigate allegations of poisoning. Daily Telegraph, Mar 31, 2012.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ ... eryones-scared.html

Quote:

"Sources have now confirmed that there is a direct connection between what Wang told the Americans in early February and the call by the Foreign Office to the Chinese authorities asking for an investigation into the death.

"His [Heywood's] fiends and acquaintances have gone to ground. No one wants to be linked to him. In Chongqing this week, no one could say exactly where his body was found, or what he was doing at the time at the time of his death. No one could explain why he was cremated before an autopsy was performed. The police told British officials that he had died after drinking excessively, but told his family – his wife who is Chinese and two sons – that he had died of a heart attack. No one knows who he might have been drinking with, and his friends say heavy alcohol consumption was not characteristic.

"In the meantime, Mr Heywood’s wife and children, who are believed to still be in the country, and his family in Britain, have been deeply upset by the furore, and by the possibility that his case is being used in a political power play.  

Note:
(a) Graham Greene
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Greene
(1904-1991; English; fictions such as "thrillers (mystery and suspense books)")
(b) Aston Martin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Martin
(The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Clinton Hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire)
(c) Welsh Guards
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Guards