Elite rocked by lurid tale of betrayal and revenge
As the wife of one of China's most ambitious politicians and a
successful lawyer in her own right, Gu Kailai lacked neither money nor
power. But her desire for more set off a chain of events that have
exposed a sordid web of murder, deception, corruption and betrayal - all
set in the winner-takes-all arena of elite Chinese politics.
Structural Steel Detailer
''I know society's trend is for money to be the number one priority,'' Gu said in a rare interview in 1998, given just after she published a book detailing a high-profile legal triumph in the US. ''But I believe people still cherish love and emotion. Seeking justice, for example, is a common emotion shared by all people.''
Structural Steel Detailer
In the end, it was a sense of deep betrayal that set her off to plot her own course of justice. Gu, 53, is being held by Chinese authorities as the prime suspect in the murder of the British businessman Neil Heywood. Her husband, the former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai, has been stripped of his senior party roles, having been seen as a contender for promotion into the party's elite inner circle, completing a dramatic fall from grace for one of the nation's most glamorous couples.
Structural Steel Detailer
An official announcement aired on state-run television last week said Gu and Heywood ''had conflict over economic interests, which had intensified''. But lurid details have since emerged, suggesting the pair had much more than a simple business relationship.
Structural Steel Detailer
A leak from the official Chinese investigation, first reported by Reuters, suggested Heywood was murdered after threatening to expose the Bo family's secret business dealings and a systematic diversion of funds overseas. Some reports suggest their net worth could be over $1 billion, with Gu's law firm and consulting business ways to funnel cash overseas without being detected.
''Her law firm quickly cornered all the largest contracts in Dalian and Chongqing,'' one prominent lawyer, who has defended accused mafia bosses in Chongqing, told the Herald. ''A lot of money was intended for Bo - that much is obvious. A normal case might cost 100,000 yuan, they charge 1 million yuan.''
The lawyer said Gu's law firm was implausibly profitable for a firm of its size.
Structural Steel Detailer
Gu's sisters control a complex web of businesses spanning from Hong Kong to the Caribbean, worth at least $126 million, according to regulatory filings obtained by Bloomberg.
Structural Steel Detailer
Jiang Weiping, a Chinese journalist who spent five years in prison after writing a book exposing alleged corruption by the Bo family, says this is just one means through which they laundered their money. According to Jiang, who now lives in Canada, Bo used real estate and land deals while in Dalian to bribe other officials, who would in turn support his rapid rise through the ranks of the party.
Structural Steel Detailer
Sources say Gu had become increasingly paranoid about the stability of China's political environment and had caught wind of a rumoured investigation into her and Bo's financial affairs.
Structural Steel Detailer
She asked Heywood to help facilitate a larger-than-usual transfer, who in turn opportunistically asked for a bigger cut, threatening to expose her if she did not comply.
Only Gu will know how emotionally involved she was with Heywood - British news reports have even suggested the pair had cohabited in an apartment in the coastal town of Bournemouth, while other sources refute that they were an item - but it is clear that Gu was stung by the Briton's betrayal.
Structural Steel Detailer
''They were definitely lovers,'' says Wang Kang, a well-connected Chongqing scholar. ''I don't think [the murder] was just because of the money, it is more likely that feelings had a bigger part to play. Money is secondary. There's plenty of money to go around.''
Structural Steel Detailer
The rot in Gu and Bo's marriage had set in much earlier, according to Jiang, Wang and other sources. Jiang says Gu's frequent travel in the mid-'90s played a role, while Bo's alleged philandering was also taking its toll.
Structural Steel Detailer
The resort that Heywood was reportedly found dead in last November, the Nanshan Lijing Holiday Hotel, is perched atop a hill in a secluded area of Chongqing, overlooking a brand-new property development and a half-finished water park. The most expensive stand-alone villa, with six bedrooms, costs about $750 a night.
The staff denied knowledge of any person being found dead at the hotel, most saying they had only been working there for a few months. One employee told the Herald that the death was merely a rumour and that ''people had come to investigate'' only because the ''foreign man was a frequent visitor''.
Structural Steel Detailer
Having followed the Bo family for much of his career, Jiang says he is not in the least surprised by the scandal that has rocked China ahead of its crucial once-in-a-decade leadership transition later this year.
Structural Steel Detailer
''On the outside, Gu's extremely pretty, very elegant,'' he told the Herald in a telephone interview. ''But in reality, she's very selfish and cold, suspicious of everyone and greedy for money.''
Structural Steel Detailer
But the salacious nature of the scandal should not detract from its significance. Analysts and commentators have breathlessly compared this to the biggest political crisis in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. But the premature downfall of one of China's most powerful and charismatic politicians could well have saved an even bigger crisis from brewing.
Structural Steel Detailer
Rising as if from out of nowhere in the middle of the quiet, idyllic grounds of Chongqing Medical University is an imposing 37-metre statue of Mao Zedong. Under his invitingly raised right arm, Chongqing's future doctors pore over their books.
Structural Steel Detailer
Yet this is not a relic from the past. The stainless steel creation was erected less than four years ago at the behest of the municipal government, as Bo's wave of ''red'' Maoist nostalgia - and a push for the return of egalitarianism - gathered momentum.
''If you want to see what impact Bo has had on Chongqing, this sums it up,'' says prolific rightist author Kong Lingping, a rake-thin, bent-over 74-year-old. ''This statue represents everything Bo was pursuing - to be as powerful as him.''
Structural Steel Detailer
Bo harnessed a platform of social equity and populist policies, backed up by the singing of revolutionary songs and a headline-grabbing ''smash black'' campaign - the waging of war against organised crime. More than 5000 were charged under the campaign in its first 10 months.
Structural Steel Detailer
Lawyers previously too afraid to speak out are now revealing disturbing accounts of police abuse and flouting of the law.
They say that Bo used his power indiscriminately to target opponents while projecting the image of maintaining law and order. While many arrested were genuine criminals, being charged with organised crime enabled Bo to seize all their assets. The funds were then used to finance and increase the power of Chongqing's anti-crime wave.
Structural Steel Detailer
''It was a sort of second Cultural Revolution in Chongqing,'' says Chen Yu, who represented four clients charged with organised crime offences. ''There were no rules … It's crazy for a madman to have such an impact in an advanced society. It really was terrifying.''
One of the first problems Bo had to deal with after being named Chongqing's party secretary was a strike by the city's taxi drivers, angered by the unchecked influx of unauthorised drivers eating into their business without having to pay expensive licence or rental fees. Their boss, taxi company mogul Li Qiang, had got off on the wrong foot with Chongqing's new leader.
Soon after, he felt the full brunt of Bo's ''smash black'' campaign and was arrested and charged with running an organised crime racket.
Structural Steel Detailer
''It's like pointing at a deer and calling it a horse,'' Chen, who represented Li, says. ''If they want to say you're part of organised crime, you're part of organised crime.''
Structural Steel Detailer
Chen says Li was strapped into a ''tiger seat'' using belts and braces to keep him bolt upright and deprived of sleep. With his head covered in a black sack to disorientate him, he was slapped or beaten whenever he started to doze off. After five straight days of the same treatment, Li caved in and signed a confession against his will and was jailed for 10½ years.
It is a similar story with lawyer Li Zhuang, who was locked in a tiger seat for three days and three nights after vigorously defending his client, Gong Gangmo, who he says was hung in the air and beaten severely for days on end and left to defecate on himself. He was charged with persuading his client to falsely claim torture.
Structural Steel Detailer
Seven lawyers who defended their clients against organised crime charges were jailed, while more than a dozen others have had their licences suspended.
Structural Steel Detailer
Li was convicted and sentenced to 2½ years in jail and had his practising licence revoked. But Li has footage of Gong's testimony and is hoping to overturn his conviction.
Structural Steel Detailer
''Right now, large numbers of Chongqing people who have suffered injustice are looking to revisit their cases and are trying to hire me,'' he told the Herald.
Structural Steel Detailer
''I know society's trend is for money to be the number one priority,'' Gu said in a rare interview in 1998, given just after she published a book detailing a high-profile legal triumph in the US. ''But I believe people still cherish love and emotion. Seeking justice, for example, is a common emotion shared by all people.''
Structural Steel Detailer
In the end, it was a sense of deep betrayal that set her off to plot her own course of justice. Gu, 53, is being held by Chinese authorities as the prime suspect in the murder of the British businessman Neil Heywood. Her husband, the former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai, has been stripped of his senior party roles, having been seen as a contender for promotion into the party's elite inner circle, completing a dramatic fall from grace for one of the nation's most glamorous couples.
Structural Steel Detailer
An official announcement aired on state-run television last week said Gu and Heywood ''had conflict over economic interests, which had intensified''. But lurid details have since emerged, suggesting the pair had much more than a simple business relationship.
Structural Steel Detailer
A leak from the official Chinese investigation, first reported by Reuters, suggested Heywood was murdered after threatening to expose the Bo family's secret business dealings and a systematic diversion of funds overseas. Some reports suggest their net worth could be over $1 billion, with Gu's law firm and consulting business ways to funnel cash overseas without being detected.
''Her law firm quickly cornered all the largest contracts in Dalian and Chongqing,'' one prominent lawyer, who has defended accused mafia bosses in Chongqing, told the Herald. ''A lot of money was intended for Bo - that much is obvious. A normal case might cost 100,000 yuan, they charge 1 million yuan.''
The lawyer said Gu's law firm was implausibly profitable for a firm of its size.
Structural Steel Detailer
Gu's sisters control a complex web of businesses spanning from Hong Kong to the Caribbean, worth at least $126 million, according to regulatory filings obtained by Bloomberg.
Structural Steel Detailer
Jiang Weiping, a Chinese journalist who spent five years in prison after writing a book exposing alleged corruption by the Bo family, says this is just one means through which they laundered their money. According to Jiang, who now lives in Canada, Bo used real estate and land deals while in Dalian to bribe other officials, who would in turn support his rapid rise through the ranks of the party.
Structural Steel Detailer
Sources say Gu had become increasingly paranoid about the stability of China's political environment and had caught wind of a rumoured investigation into her and Bo's financial affairs.
Structural Steel Detailer
She asked Heywood to help facilitate a larger-than-usual transfer, who in turn opportunistically asked for a bigger cut, threatening to expose her if she did not comply.
Only Gu will know how emotionally involved she was with Heywood - British news reports have even suggested the pair had cohabited in an apartment in the coastal town of Bournemouth, while other sources refute that they were an item - but it is clear that Gu was stung by the Briton's betrayal.
Structural Steel Detailer
''They were definitely lovers,'' says Wang Kang, a well-connected Chongqing scholar. ''I don't think [the murder] was just because of the money, it is more likely that feelings had a bigger part to play. Money is secondary. There's plenty of money to go around.''
Structural Steel Detailer
The rot in Gu and Bo's marriage had set in much earlier, according to Jiang, Wang and other sources. Jiang says Gu's frequent travel in the mid-'90s played a role, while Bo's alleged philandering was also taking its toll.
Structural Steel Detailer
The resort that Heywood was reportedly found dead in last November, the Nanshan Lijing Holiday Hotel, is perched atop a hill in a secluded area of Chongqing, overlooking a brand-new property development and a half-finished water park. The most expensive stand-alone villa, with six bedrooms, costs about $750 a night.
The staff denied knowledge of any person being found dead at the hotel, most saying they had only been working there for a few months. One employee told the Herald that the death was merely a rumour and that ''people had come to investigate'' only because the ''foreign man was a frequent visitor''.
Structural Steel Detailer
Having followed the Bo family for much of his career, Jiang says he is not in the least surprised by the scandal that has rocked China ahead of its crucial once-in-a-decade leadership transition later this year.
Structural Steel Detailer
''On the outside, Gu's extremely pretty, very elegant,'' he told the Herald in a telephone interview. ''But in reality, she's very selfish and cold, suspicious of everyone and greedy for money.''
Structural Steel Detailer
But the salacious nature of the scandal should not detract from its significance. Analysts and commentators have breathlessly compared this to the biggest political crisis in China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. But the premature downfall of one of China's most powerful and charismatic politicians could well have saved an even bigger crisis from brewing.
Structural Steel Detailer
Rising as if from out of nowhere in the middle of the quiet, idyllic grounds of Chongqing Medical University is an imposing 37-metre statue of Mao Zedong. Under his invitingly raised right arm, Chongqing's future doctors pore over their books.
Structural Steel Detailer
Yet this is not a relic from the past. The stainless steel creation was erected less than four years ago at the behest of the municipal government, as Bo's wave of ''red'' Maoist nostalgia - and a push for the return of egalitarianism - gathered momentum.
''If you want to see what impact Bo has had on Chongqing, this sums it up,'' says prolific rightist author Kong Lingping, a rake-thin, bent-over 74-year-old. ''This statue represents everything Bo was pursuing - to be as powerful as him.''
Structural Steel Detailer
Bo harnessed a platform of social equity and populist policies, backed up by the singing of revolutionary songs and a headline-grabbing ''smash black'' campaign - the waging of war against organised crime. More than 5000 were charged under the campaign in its first 10 months.
Structural Steel Detailer
Lawyers previously too afraid to speak out are now revealing disturbing accounts of police abuse and flouting of the law.
They say that Bo used his power indiscriminately to target opponents while projecting the image of maintaining law and order. While many arrested were genuine criminals, being charged with organised crime enabled Bo to seize all their assets. The funds were then used to finance and increase the power of Chongqing's anti-crime wave.
Structural Steel Detailer
''It was a sort of second Cultural Revolution in Chongqing,'' says Chen Yu, who represented four clients charged with organised crime offences. ''There were no rules … It's crazy for a madman to have such an impact in an advanced society. It really was terrifying.''
One of the first problems Bo had to deal with after being named Chongqing's party secretary was a strike by the city's taxi drivers, angered by the unchecked influx of unauthorised drivers eating into their business without having to pay expensive licence or rental fees. Their boss, taxi company mogul Li Qiang, had got off on the wrong foot with Chongqing's new leader.
Soon after, he felt the full brunt of Bo's ''smash black'' campaign and was arrested and charged with running an organised crime racket.
Structural Steel Detailer
''It's like pointing at a deer and calling it a horse,'' Chen, who represented Li, says. ''If they want to say you're part of organised crime, you're part of organised crime.''
Structural Steel Detailer
Chen says Li was strapped into a ''tiger seat'' using belts and braces to keep him bolt upright and deprived of sleep. With his head covered in a black sack to disorientate him, he was slapped or beaten whenever he started to doze off. After five straight days of the same treatment, Li caved in and signed a confession against his will and was jailed for 10½ years.
It is a similar story with lawyer Li Zhuang, who was locked in a tiger seat for three days and three nights after vigorously defending his client, Gong Gangmo, who he says was hung in the air and beaten severely for days on end and left to defecate on himself. He was charged with persuading his client to falsely claim torture.
Structural Steel Detailer
Seven lawyers who defended their clients against organised crime charges were jailed, while more than a dozen others have had their licences suspended.
Structural Steel Detailer
Li was convicted and sentenced to 2½ years in jail and had his practising licence revoked. But Li has footage of Gong's testimony and is hoping to overturn his conviction.
Structural Steel Detailer
''Right now, large numbers of Chongqing people who have suffered injustice are looking to revisit their cases and are trying to hire me,'' he told the Herald.
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