Neil Heywood Case Re-opened, Britain Responds

This Tuesday, the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, expressed his relief that the death of British businessman Neil Heywood is being reinvestigated.  The case was re-opened yesterday after Gu Kailai, the wife of disgraced Communist official Bo Xilai, was arrested as a suspect in Heywood’s murder. 

 [William Hague, British Foreign Secretary]:

"I welcome this announcement from the Chinese authorities. I decided a few weeks ago to ask China to reopen its investigations into the death of Neil Heywood. So I'm pleased they are doing as we asked them to do. And we now look forward to seeing the outcome of these investigations."

Neil Heywood, was found dead in a hotel in Chongqing last November. Police attributed his death to alcohol poisoning and cremated the body shortly afterwards.

However recent information has called into question Heywood's death. 

The former police chief of Chongqing, Wang Lijun, tried to seek asylum at the US consulate in Chengdu this February. It is believed that he had evidence that  Heywood’s death was a homicide. 

Heywood was believed to have had business dealings with Gu Kailai. It is speculated that there was a dispute between the two over financial matters, but nothing has been confirmed. 

State-run CCTV reported that Gu Kalai has been "transferred to judicial authorities for handling on the suspected crime of intentional homicide."