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 intimatel ...

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 lucked into his connection with Bo Xilai, and was killed after a miscalculation on ...

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, but never have we had proof. Certainly nothing like this: The ...

The "open trial" of Wang Lijun, on charges of bribe-taking and "bending the law for selfish ends," according to Xinhua, began this morning. It is now over, having taken place "under tight security before a carefully selected audience," according to the Guardian, from which the above picture is taken. "Foreign journalists were not permitted to attend." Yesterday, Wang, the former Chengdu vice mayor and polic ...

In the most non-suspenseful verdict ever, a court in Hefei, Anhui province (read: the Party) has officially sentenced Gu Kailai to "death with a two-year reprieve" for murdering Neil Heywood, as expected. What this means is that Gu will not be put to death, assuming she doesn't commit another crime in the next two years. And then it's off to a plush retirement home -- sorry, prison -- and no one will rememb ...

Donald C. Clarke, professor of law at George Washington University, recently translated an account of the Gu Kailai trial and posted it on his website, Chinese Law Prof Blog. The account was written in Chinese by Zhao Xiangcha, titled, "A Record of my Observation of the Murder Trial of BoGu Kailai and Zhang Xiaojun." Zhao notes that he wasn't allowed to bring in any recording equipment -- he even had a smal ...

[caption id="attachment_4533" align="alignnone" width="324" caption="Alexander Yuan / AP"][/caption] If you were counting, the "trial" lasted all of a few hours, ending just now with Gu Kailai not contesting the charge that she murdered British businessman Neil Heywood. So much for transparency of law. Did we learn anything from this process? Gu was never going to win their game, so she didn't play. A date ...

Just look at her. That face. In a snap it could transform into a teeth-baring devil or a demurring tigress. Few people in the world could command attention like so -- indeed, demand it by simply biting down so that her cheeks -- much like her glare -- lock into place. She is the type who would whisper into the ear of a gentleman 20 years her junior, through flashing teeth, I would tear you apart. And don't ...