The mother of a Briton whose murder led to the downfall of high-flying Chinese politician Bo Xilai has hit out at Beijing for failing to pay compensation over his death, saying it left a “stain” on China`s reputation.
Neil Heywood was found dead in a hotel room in the southwestern Chinese mega-city of Chongqing in November 2011. Bo’s wife Gu Kailai was convicted of the murder while the former political star`s own trial ruled he acted to suppress a probe into the killing.
Heywood had been close to Bo and his family, but Gu’s 2012 trial heard that she and the businessman had fallen out after a deal went sour.
Bo, once one of the Communist Party’s elite 25-member Politburo, was convicted of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power and sentenced to life in prison last September after a trial that exposed murky machinations, high-living and homicide in his inner circle.
In a statement to The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Heywood’s mother Ann said she had been assured by Chinese authorities that she and her family had a right to compensation, but had not received anything.
