Theories abound in China about Bo family’s link to Briton’s murder
By Peh Shing Huei 21 April 2012
Is the death of Briton Neil Heywood an inter-continental tragedy of blackmail and murder sparked by a falling out over dubious finances?
Is it a crime of passion gone sour? Or did the cuckolded husband order a hit on the wife’s lover?
More than a week after the news that the wife of purged Chinese leader Bo Xilai is a prime suspect in Mr Heywood’s death, the motive remains unclear although theories abound.
Reports and rumours about an alleged romantic relationship between Madam Gu Kailai and Mr Heywood have been given extensive coverage in leading global dailies, overseas Chinese websites and the ever-thriving microblogs here.
None has been verified or been proven wrong. Not yet, anyway.
Many Chinese doubt that Madam Gu is behind Mr Heywood’s ‘intentional homicide’, as state media reports put it. But if indeed she is, then two broad theories have emerged from the clatter as possible motives: one economic and the other romantic.
Money, money, money
SINCE the official Xinhua news agency reported Madam Gu, 53, to be a suspect because of a ‘conflict over economic interests’ with Mr Heywood, many have dug deeper into this allegation.
A plausible scenario is that the pair had clashed over overseas financial dealings, according to some overseas Chinese websites.
The 41-year-old businessman was silenced after he helped Madam Gu siphon an eye-popping 8 billion yuan (S$1.6 billion) in assets out of China late last year, according to US-based Boxun.com.
This came on the back of a pointed article last week in the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, which urged vigilance against the growing trend of corrupt officials moving their ill-gotten wealth overseas through family members.
This theory was built on by Reuters, citing unnamed sources in Chongqing, the south-western megacity which Mr Bo had ruled before his sacking last month and where Mr Heywood was found dead last November.
Madam Gu, it is said, became outraged with the Briton when he demanded a higher commission than usual because of the size of the transaction.
She accused him of being greedy and he retaliated by threatening to expose her. A hit was ordered by Madam Gu.
The economic angle seems the most likely for now as it has been cited by official state organs as the motive.
But many Chinese and experts remain sceptical.
‘I can’t buy the argument that she killed him over business interests,’ said Chinese elite politics expert Bo Zhiyue from the East Asian Institute in Singapore.
Observer Zhang Jian from Peking University agrees.
‘It is very hard for us to believe that a family member of a high-ranking official will kill because of money. The Bos are extremely rich,’ he said.
‘Anything that can be solved with money is not a problem (for them).’
Love me do
INSTEAD, some are inclined towards the salacious motive, pointing to an alleged affair gone awry with Mr Heywood.
This romantic link is said to be set in the sleepy English seaside town of Bournemouth.
Madam Gu lived there for about 10 months in 2001 while her son, Bo Guagua, was preparing to study at the prestigious Harrow School. They lived in a ‘shabby top-floor flat’ in Keystone House, according to The Times, and Mr Heywood was a frequent visitor.
The daily cited unnamed sources as saying that Madam Gu and Mr Heywood behaved like they were an item.
‘Body language. When a man pinches a lady on the backside, as they’re going up the stairs... over-friendly,’ said a source who was linked to the property.
The alleged affair gels with another well-circulated rumour that Madam Gu had demanded that Mr Heywood, being a member of her inner circle, divorce his wife and pledge unswerving allegiance to the Bo family.
Her behaviour stemmed from her growing paranoia in recent years, according to reports.
A close ally from Mr Bo’s days as Dalian mayor, tycoon Xu Ming, is reportedly his pimp-in-chief.
Mr Xu, who has been detained for more than a month by graft busters, owns the Dalian-based Shide group.
He helped procure more than 100 young women, including TV presenters and models, for Mr Bo, who was Dalian mayor for eight years in the 1990s, according to several online accounts.
However, few could agree on how the chapter closed for this lurid tale of sex and love.
Some suggest that Madam Gu had the Briton killed because he refused to leave his Chinese wife and ended their affair instead.
Others speculate that Mr Bo ordered Mr Heywood poisoned to death after he found out about the adulterous pair.
Said Prof Zhang: ‘If indeed she killed him, I think it is more likely for passion and love rather than cold, hard cash.’
Whether for love, money or a bit of both, the mystery behind a foreigner’s death in a Chinese city has sparked China’s biggest, and messiest, political storm in years.
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For love or money?
Theories abound in China about Bo family’s link to Briton’s murder
By Peh Shing Huei
21 April 2012
Is the death of Briton Neil Heywood an inter-continental tragedy of blackmail and murder sparked by a falling out over dubious finances?
Is it a crime of passion gone sour? Or did the cuckolded husband order a hit on the wife’s lover?
More than a week after the news that the wife of purged Chinese leader Bo Xilai is a prime suspect in Mr Heywood’s death, the motive remains unclear although theories abound.
Reports and rumours about an alleged romantic relationship between Madam Gu Kailai and Mr Heywood have been given extensive coverage in leading global dailies, overseas Chinese websites and the ever-thriving microblogs here.
None has been verified or been proven wrong. Not yet, anyway.
Many Chinese doubt that Madam Gu is behind Mr Heywood’s ‘intentional homicide’, as state media reports put it. But if indeed she is, then two broad theories have emerged from the clatter as possible motives: one economic and the other romantic.
Money, money, money
SINCE the official Xinhua news agency reported Madam Gu, 53, to be a suspect because of a ‘conflict over economic interests’ with Mr Heywood, many have dug deeper into this allegation.
A plausible scenario is that the pair had clashed over overseas financial dealings, according to some overseas Chinese websites.
The 41-year-old businessman was silenced after he helped Madam Gu siphon an eye-popping 8 billion yuan (S$1.6 billion) in assets out of China late last year, according to US-based Boxun.com.
This came on the back of a pointed article last week in the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, which urged vigilance against the growing trend of corrupt officials moving their ill-gotten wealth overseas through family members.
This theory was built on by Reuters, citing unnamed sources in Chongqing, the south-western megacity which Mr Bo had ruled before his sacking last month and where Mr Heywood was found dead last November.
Madam Gu, it is said, became outraged with the Briton when he demanded a higher commission than usual because of the size of the transaction.
She accused him of being greedy and he retaliated by threatening to expose her. A hit was ordered by Madam Gu.
The economic angle seems the most likely for now as it has been cited by official state organs as the motive.
But many Chinese and experts remain sceptical.
‘I can’t buy the argument that she killed him over business interests,’ said Chinese elite politics expert Bo Zhiyue from the East Asian Institute in Singapore.
Observer Zhang Jian from Peking University agrees.
‘It is very hard for us to believe that a family member of a high-ranking official will kill because of money. The Bos are extremely rich,’ he said.
‘Anything that can be solved with money is not a problem (for them).’
Love me do
INSTEAD, some are inclined towards the salacious motive, pointing to an alleged affair gone awry with Mr Heywood.
This romantic link is said to be set in the sleepy English seaside town of Bournemouth.
Madam Gu lived there for about 10 months in 2001 while her son, Bo Guagua, was preparing to study at the prestigious Harrow School. They lived in a ‘shabby top-floor flat’ in Keystone House, according to The Times, and Mr Heywood was a frequent visitor.
The daily cited unnamed sources as saying that Madam Gu and Mr Heywood behaved like they were an item.
‘Body language. When a man pinches a lady on the backside, as they’re going up the stairs... over-friendly,’ said a source who was linked to the property.
The alleged affair gels with another well-circulated rumour that Madam Gu had demanded that Mr Heywood, being a member of her inner circle, divorce his wife and pledge unswerving allegiance to the Bo family.
Her behaviour stemmed from her growing paranoia in recent years, according to reports.
A close ally from Mr Bo’s days as Dalian mayor, tycoon Xu Ming, is reportedly his pimp-in-chief.
Mr Xu, who has been detained for more than a month by graft busters, owns the Dalian-based Shide group.
He helped procure more than 100 young women, including TV presenters and models, for Mr Bo, who was Dalian mayor for eight years in the 1990s, according to several online accounts.
However, few could agree on how the chapter closed for this lurid tale of sex and love.
Some suggest that Madam Gu had the Briton killed because he refused to leave his Chinese wife and ended their affair instead.
Others speculate that Mr Bo ordered Mr Heywood poisoned to death after he found out about the adulterous pair.
Said Prof Zhang: ‘If indeed she killed him, I think it is more likely for passion and love rather than cold, hard cash.’
Whether for love, money or a bit of both, the mystery behind a foreigner’s death in a Chinese city has sparked China’s biggest, and messiest, political storm in years.
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