Honestly, the spies are coming out of the woodwork! No sooner had I written the piece below offering you the job of head of MI6 when I turn to the WSJ and find a story of an ex(?)-MI6 operator called Neil Heywood who met a mysterious death in China. He acted on a free-lance basis for a firm called Hakluyt & Co. which was set up in China by ex(?)-MI6 officers offering their services to international companies wishing to do business there. Apparently, Mr. Heywood died in a Chongqing hotel room in November and if that name rings a bell it means you were paying attention to my last post concerning China in which I reported the sacking of the political boss of the Chongqing region, Bo Xilai, who was also a member of the national Polit-Bureau, the highest political organisation in the country. You may remember that his police chief 'did a runner' to the nearest American consulate who refused him asylum lest they upset the Chinese government and he was discreetly whisked off to Beijing to, er, 'help the Party with its enquiries'! Apparently, he has claimed that Heywood was poisoned but it is rather difficult to substantiate that because the local authority concerned claimed he had died due to excess alcohol and promptly cremated his body. Friends and aquaintances maintain that Mr. Heywood never drank! Finally, and rather deliciously given the sad nature of this tale, there might be some fun and games in Washington:
Mr. Wang's case is raising interest in Congress, as leading lawmakers are seeking to find out if the Obama administration denied him political asylum.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.) is requesting access to State Department communications concerning Mr. Wang's case. A spokesman for Mrs. Ros-Lehtinen said she has yet to receive a response.
The State Department said last month Mr. Wang left the Chengdu consulate under his "own volition." Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland Monday declined to comment further.
Needless to say, every potential Chinese defecter or possible intelligence source will have read this story of brave Obama's 'welcome' to such people and drawn their own conclusions!
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