主题：【整理】西方报纸直言不讳：薄熙来倒台合乎美国利益！ -- hwd99

Now he apparently asked for asylum but, after wrangling between the consulate and Washington DC, was refused and forced to leave. His current whereabouts are unknown and Chinese reports say he is on leave due to a “health concern”.

Meanwhile an “open letter to the whole world”, purportedly by Mr Wang, surfaced on the internet. The letter attacked Mr Bo as a “hypocrite” and “the greatest gangster in China” and accused him of corruption.

It was most likely fake. But a month later Mr Bo, who admitted he may have “trusted the wrong person” in Mr Wang, was sacked as Chongqing Communist Party Secretary and from his other posts in the city. He too has not been seen in public since.

The latest revelations add to the intrigue over what may be the most serious split in China’s secretive leadership for 20 years. Mr Bo had been a candidate to join China’s top ruling body, the Politburo’s standing committee. Could the Wang scandal and Mr Heywood’s death have offered his rivals an opening to sideline him?

The ripples spread far and wide. His spectacular fall from grace sparked rumours throughout China of a military coup - fuelled by the lack of information about what lay behind it. On Saturday the authorities arrested six people and closed 16 websites for spreading the speculation.

Meanwhile in Washington the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs is demanding to know why such a senior Chinese official as Mr Wang was apparently turned away by US diplomats.

Vice President Joe Biden is among senior figures urging them not to hold public hearings, and officials are expected to refuse to answer questions on national security grounds.

Whatever the truth about Mr Bo and his family’s connections with Heywood, the allegations that the Briton may have been murdered are a shock to his family, who still believe his death was due to a heart attack.

His father and his paternal grandparents all died at an early age - and several friends in Britain say Mr Heywood “looked ill” in pictures taken before his death.

John Summers, Mr Heywood’s brother-in-law, said: : “As far as I’m aware the Foreign Office has not been in contact with any of Neil’s family about re-opening the case, it was their decision to do that as the family had accepted the verdict.

“He never mentioned any problems or worries. He had lived out there for quite a while and seemed happy.”

Mr Heywood’s 74-year-old mother Ann, who still lives in the Streatham family home where he grew up, said: “I loved Neil very much, a mother and son could hardly have been closer. We talked several times a week on the phone and if anything was worrying him he would tell me.

“It’s distressing having it all brought up again after four months. As far as I’m concerned it was, and still is, a closed case. The Foreign Office is looking into it again, but not at our request.

“It’s heartbreaking to even think there was foul play involved. He was very ambitious, had a lot of friends and business contacts and had a nice life in China.

“I went to China often to see him, I still do to see my daughter-in-law and grandchildren, and they were always very happy.

“I don’t know why these theories have surfaced now, I don’t know about any political motivation. As far as I’m concerned he died of a heart attack. It’s tragic, but nothing more.”