Intrigue, death and China’s dark secrets
Normally the visit of the fifth most important man amongst the nine most important men who run China, would merit little comment. Li Changchun looks little different from the other white shirted, red tied, dark grey suited Chinese leaders who pitch up in assorted times in assorted places. Mr. Li’s little local difficulty in visiting Downing Street yesterday is that a story that both he and the British government had hoped had gone away is barking like a dog.
I refer of course to the mysterious death of 41-year-old Neil Heywood. China is such a fabulous trading nation, so big, so rich, that the apparently random death of one British citizen in a far flung hotel room deep inside China surely cannot be allowed to rock the “relationship”. Indeed when it happened – last November, it didn’t. The body was neatly incinerated. The man of whom Mr Heywood’s friend Tom Reid has said “I don’t think I ever saw him with a drink” had died suddenly of “an overdose of alcohol”.
Imagine the backchat as British diplomacy began to experience the aftermath. How happy they must have been when Christmas came and nothing had happened to challenge the account of the quiet and unfortunate death in Chongqing.
But oh dear - 6 February dawns and a Mr Wang Lijung pitches up at the American Consulate 300 miles away in Chengdu. Not just any old Mr Wang, but the powerful police chief who had been investigating Neil Heywood’s death.
Read more: Foreign Office defends Heywood response
Then we hear that he tried to defect. We hear he had fallen out with a another unusually un-dark grey suited Chinese leader – Politburo member and Regional boss Bo Xilai. It seems the top cop thinks Bo’s wife poisoned Mr Heywood. Bo – son of a man who accompanied Mao on his Long March, father of a boy at Harrow, is sacked.
Harrow; Chongqing; Downing Street; Chengdu; a sacking; a failed defection; and a leadership struggle. Suddenly we, who know so little about China, are reminded that the once a decade “all change” at the top of China’s grey suits is but months away. Bo - brash, rich, powerful, had been a bright “dark horse” moving about amongst the power shifts.
His wife is in prison, suspected of murdering Heywood, Bo is stripped of power and is we know not exactly where. And Mr. Li has been asked about it all. From what little I know of diplomacy, this matter will have been a polite, charmingly delivered hope that our “co-operation and friendship” will resolve this matter.
But the enthralling “who dunnit” and the sad personal consequence for Neil Heywood’s family speak to a dark truth. This massive burgeoning power hides many vast secrets. We know as little as we know about the workings of the human brain, as we do of the inner functions of Chinese power. This is a power that each day plays a bigger and bigger role in every one of our lives. We ignore the matter of who killed Neil Heywood at our peril.
Can we have any faith that China’s smiling number five, Li Changchun will provide a scintilla of an answer?
You can follow Jon Snow on Twitter @jonsnowC4
Related posts:
There are 11 comments on this post
No. Amid all the paranoia (e.g. Wikileaks) about the closed nature of the UK, US, etc, we are an open book compared to the Chinese & though we get up to inexcusable dirty tricks (like rendition) we are governed with respect to the law & there is a paraphernalia of support for our human rights. When those who blog about the HRA and the ECHR and want them to be less rigorous about human rights, they might occasionally consider what it would be like to oppose publicly Government policy in China or Russia.
I am not a supporter of making sacrifices for the greater good , whatever good means;I am a believer in the significance of the life of every individual on the planet, but it seems here, that somewhere along the line, Mr Heywoods’ abrupt end as you suggest is connected with intrigue undiscovered.
We need good relations with China though and one doesn’t need to be a salaried diplomat to understand that.
Great piece, John. I’m living and working in Beijing and have been following this story avidly- not in the Chinese press I hasten to add! I’m intrigued how this will play out. Time will tell, or not. Thanks for your great coverage via the site, blogs,Snowmail, etc. one of the things I really miss about home- sitting down to Channel Four News when I get in. Keep up the good work!
Penelope, it’s seriously rewarding to find your comment..wonderful to have someone actually IN Beijing responding..and thanks for kind words..best wishes, Jon
We may have more faith in any Chinese verdict on who killed Neil Heywood than we will ever get on the death of Dr David Kelly in our own grassy, and grubby, back-yard.
Let him who is without sin, as the book says….
I’m interested in what your evidence is for that statement about Chinese justice. It seems as though there was an attempt at a massive cover-up, whereas the Kelly case has been through a series of reviews & before the courts for judicial reviews, etc. Our backyard may be grubby, but if you believe the Chinese are no better, perhaps you should ask relatives of those who died at Tien an-men square or perhaps you should ask a Tibetan?
Philip, You will note I referenced “any Chinese verdict”, no mention of Chinese justice. I suspect we share the same view of the qualities of justice currently delivered in China.
But, while we may also agree that we have a “series of reviews and courts for judicial reviews” here in the UK, that is merely a definition of a process, which has little to do with delivering real justice.
Cover-ups do not only happen in oppressed states – the Dr David Kelly case remains an open one in terms of real justice being seen to be done.
On this form modern day mongols are coming with nothing to offer us but destruction.
What about MK Ultra Jon? That’s a dark secret. Who would think British intelligence would let something like this happen today. Let’s not get started on the corporate run, institutional racist government that runs covert terror campaigns at the cost of whoever’s lives are ruined or lost in the process. I guess that’s Masonry for you eh? Chaos for the rich and benefit class oppression for the poor. Nevermind your intelligence. If your too smart we can have you sectioned, oppressed and raped and if you try to fight it our masonic run legal system will prevent the poor from obtaining justice and the media will ignore the problem. Ah well.
Thankyou Bob, I appreciate your comments.Its actually moving for someone, somewhere to understand the levels of use , abuse and opression many of us have to suffer at the hands of the silent few and the silenced many.
A year ago little was reported on this British businessmans death, now news of the Chinese arresting a prominent citizen within their own elite political ranks, have shed some light onto the strange and bizarre death, it is also very rare for such a foreign businessman to get so close to this political circle, is it at all possible the businessman was a British spy and the whole story is a cover up, it is said this chinese woman was like Mrs Kennedy, if so I’m sure there would be no way she would soil her hands on a murder to lose everything, or is she the fall guy or simple hell has no fury like a woman scorned , whatever way she’s lost alot.