The Bo Xilai story continues. For those unfamiliar with it let me explain that it began late last year with the death in China of a British businessman, Neil Heywood, a man with strong MI6 connections. His death was quickly put down to excess alcohol by the Chinese authorities who with indecent haste had his body cremated before any autopsy could be held. That, however, was but the first ripple on the hitherto calm Chinese pool. The next event was the sudden disappearance of the local police and security chief who turned up at the American consulate seeking asylum. Eventually he came out and was immediately rushed to Beijing. At the same time the local Party chief, Bo Xilai, a man about to reach the very highest ruling committee in the land, was arrested along with his wife.
After that everything went quiet in the Chinese way of these things but now a 'zillionaire' friend of Bo Xilai's wife has also disappeared and is thought to be 'helping the authorities with their enquiries'! At the same time, the Cambodian government has let it be known that the Chinese have requested the extradition of a French resident, Patrick Henri Devillers, who was another intimate with the Bo family, particularly Mr. Bo's wife, Gu Kailai. The plot thickens, rather like a Chinese sweet and sour sauce. The Communist Party of China 'moves in mysterious ways its (secret) wonders to perform'!
I am grateful to the WSJ for the latest information.
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