Heywood Family Lawyer Doesn’t Approve Of Ann Heywood’s WSJ Statement

File photo of China's former Chongqing Municipality Communist Party Secretary Bo looking on during a meeting at China's parliament in Beijing
On August 11, Ann Heywood, the mother of murdered British businessman Neil Heywood, issued a statement that appeared in the Wall Street Journal. ("The full text of a statement," according to WSJ.) "Given the circumstances of Neil's murder, I have been surprised and disappointed that, despite repeated discreet approaches to the Chinese authorities, there has been no substantive or practical response," she wrote. (It was then reported that the family was asking for $5 million in compensation.)

Bo Guagua Issues Statement Ahead Of Father’s Trial

Bo Guagua issues statement to the New York Times
In a two-paragraph statement to the New York Times, Bo Guagua -- the son of Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai, convicted last August of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood -- said he has been denied contact with his parents for the past year and a half, and hopes his father gets a chance to defend himself at his trial that is scheduled for Thursday.

Ann Heywood, Mother Of British Businessman Neil Heywood, Seeks Closure In Son’s Murder Case [UPDATE: Also, Millions In Compensation]

Neil Heywood
With each day that we still wait for the trial of Bo Xilai to begin, it becomes a little easier to forget what this is all about. Politics, economics, how it affects Xi Jinping's reforms, and shuanggui, yes, all very interesting, but at the heart of the matter is a murder -- the poisoning of British businessman Neil Heywood -- and a high-level cover-up that has already resulted in two people -- former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun and Bo Xilai consort Gu Kailai -- being given (essentially) 15-year sentences.

Should Bo Xilai Be Time’s Person Of The Year? (More Than 90 Percent So Far Say No)

Bo Xilai as Time's Person of the Year
There’s no question Bo Xilai has had an eventful year, directly responsible for outrage, consternation, confusion, exhilaration, and joy (he was manna from heaven for China’s foreign correspondents). As Time’s Austin Ramzy writes, “Bo was favored to win a seat on China’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee this fall after having boosted his popularity by reviving Mao-era... Read more »

Channel 4′s Dispatches Documentary On Neil Heywood Is Operatic, Shadowy, And Full Of Muhhhhduh [UPDATE]

Channel 4′s Dispatches Documentary On Neil Heywood Is Operatic, Shadowy, And Full Of Muhhhhduh featured image
The Sunday Times, in its now-famous (or infamous) piece on Neil Heywood (still paywalled, but it's here if you want to purchase), alluded to a certain Channel 4 documentary on the man. Quote: "After a year-long investigation for Channel 4's Dispatches, based on numerous conversations with friends, business colleagues, diplomatic sources and a Chinese contact who knew both Heywood and the Bo family intimately, we can reveal the real Neil Heywood."

The Sunday Times: Neil Heywood Was An English-Teaching Know-Nothing Nobody

Heywood tweets
In a 3,600-word piece, Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy of Britain’s The Sunday Times lay bare the myth of Neil Heywood. They argue that far from being an intrepid power broker living astutely within the inner circles of China’s elite, the murdered Briton was a “failed businessman,” a “chancer,” an “irritant,” and a liar who... Read more »

Neil Heywood May Have Had British Spy Ties After All, Says WSJ

Neil Heywood
Neil Heywood was likely feeding information to British intelligence officers while in the inner circle of Bo Xilai, according to Jeremy Page of the Wall Street Journal. From the very beginning of this saga, we’ve known that Heywood — poisoned by Gu Kailai, as the consensus goes — has been connected to MI6, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service,... Read more »