China official: No proof murdered Briton was a spy
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang speaks at the Chongqing delegation meeting of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Thursday, Nov 8, 2012. Zhang told reporters on Thursday that he had no information about when Bo Xilai would go on trial. -- PHOTO: AP
BEIJING (AP) - A top Chinese leader says there's no evidence the British businessman whose murder became part of a major political scandal was a spy.
Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, who was put in charge of the mega-city of Chongqing in the scandal's wake, told reporters on Thursday that he had no information about when his predecessor, the now purged leader Bo Xilai, would go on trial.
Mr Bo faces charges from corruption to involvement in covering up his wife's murder of Briton Neil Heywood in a dispute.
Asked by reporters about a Wall Street Journal report that Heywood was an informant for British intelligence, Mr Zhang said evidence to date does not show he was a spy.
