The British government has told China it will oppose the death penalty if anyone is convicted of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood, a British government minister said in Hong Kong yesterday.
Heywood had close ties to the family of former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai . His suspicious death in Chongqing in November unleashed one of the biggest political scandals on the mainland in years, with Bo's top aide briefly fleeing to a US consulate and Bo being sacked and placed under investigation by the Communist Party.
Bo's wife, Gu Kailai , and a family staff member have been arrested as suspects in Heywood's murder.
'We have reminded the Chinese government that Britain has a policy of opposing the death penalty everywhere in the world, including in cases that apply to British nationals,' British Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne said at an event at the Foreign Correspondents' Club when asked for an update on the Heywood case.
'Obviously that's not something that we can enforce because it's not our jurisdiction ... this case is in the hands of the Chinese and we are very pleased they are investigating it with the energy with which they tell us they are.'
Any decision about who to prosecute and whether they would face the death penalty was within China's jurisdiction because the incidents took place there, he said.
'The British government has both sought and received assurances from the Chinese government that every effort is being made to get to the bottom of this case and to investigate fully what happened,' Browne said.