A murder in China

So the Wall Street Journal is reporting that a British National, Neil Haywood, may have been poisoned by a senior Communist official, Bo Xilai, or his wife, over a "business dispute"; but now it turns out Haywood was a contractor to a firm called Hakluyt & Co, which just happened to be founded by ex-MI6 agents, and provides "Strategic Business intelligence" to it's clients.

Suspicions surfaced when Bo's 2nd in command, an ex-Police chief, told Bo that he suspected murder; he (the ex-Police chief) then ran to the US Consulate and demanded asylum. Which the US government of denied, turning him over to unspecified Senior Party officials.

Oh, and Neil's body was never autopsied, was cremated immediately, and the cause of death was listed as "alcohol poisoning", which is odd since according to family and friends, Neil was a teetotaler.

Bo is a hard line Neo-Maoist who was responsible for a big crack down on crime in his province not too long ago. Now he's disgraced, his political career effectively over.

So was this a real life James Bond who's cover got blown? Or was he used to setup Bo for a fall? Apparently the Chinese blogosphere is alight with speculation, so I thought CHUD should join in.

Looks like I chose the right time to read that new James Bond novel, Carte Blanche!

So now the Chinese government is cracking down on Internet blogs, message boards in China to try and squelch romour mongering. Bloggers have taken to using code words, puns and other literary devices to disguise their commentary.

I think we are witnessing the tip of the iceberg of a massive power struggle within the Chinese Communist party, between the adherents of "Chinese Capitalism" vs old timey Maoists. It's a struggle that's been going on since Mao died and it never really went away, but with the oncoming transition in leadership it has entered a critical stage.

Oh Bo's son, who's been studying at Harvard, is now missing, after being escorted from his home by "private security guards". This gets weirder by the hour.