中共目前面临诸多挑战，而眼下正值党内为十年一度的换届做准备，中国经济也面临从投资导向转向消费导向的一代人一遇的大转型。薄熙来最大的过错就在于，在中共面临如此重大的挑战之际，戳穿了它团结的假象。

中国最后一位皇帝就是毛泽东。毛泽东去世后，邓小平最重要的功绩之一就是，让整个国家体制不再围绕一个权倾一世、让人们狂热崇拜的政治强人而运转。1976年，毛泽东时代终结，中国政治体制从此发生了根本变化——尽管在名义上，这一体制过去和现在都信奉共产主义。

中国改革开放的总设计师邓小平当然也握有很大权力，但他不像毛泽东，后者对权力寄予了一种堂吉诃德式的幻想。邓小平对个人崇拜非常警惕，他严令禁止各地为自己树立雕像或张贴画像。上世纪90年代初继任中国国家主席的江泽民，权力比邓小平更弱。而缺乏个性、有些刻板的中国现任领导人胡锦涛，比前几任的权力都更小。个人崇拜被彻底清除。至少直到薄熙来进入公众视线之前都是如此。

后毛泽东时代的中国建立了一种集体领导制，上层精英们通过寻求共识来执政。这一体制的顶层是由9人组成的中共中央政治局常委，次一层是由25人组成的中共中央政治局（薄熙来目前仍是政治局委员）。除最高层之外，参与决策的还有其他中共组织、中国人民解放军(PLA)及各个政府机构。

中国在某种程度上甚至已有让公众表达意见的场所。中共领导人对针对腐败、污染、官员不称职和社会不公之类问题的批评非常敏感——如今这些批评之声还主要集中在网络上。中共有时会选择压制异见，尤其是当批评声音对中共自身的合法性提出质疑时。但对公众围绕其它问题——比如大连兴建石化厂或温州高铁事故——发出的不满声音，中共却可能表现出令人吃惊的包容。

在某些方面，中国现代政府仍带有基于科举制度的封建官僚体制的影子。在现代中国，中共干部要花上多年，甚至几十年时间，在最具挑战的行政和政治职位历练，才能一步步爬上最高层。出身食品加工厂的汪洋，即是这样进入中共共青团，然后进入在权力圈里不那么刺激的安徽省体委，之后在安徽省委站稳脚跟。在再度经历数次高难度工作的考验后，如今，他已经是广东省委书记，距离握有大权的中共中央政治局常委仅有一步之遥。

这样一种严格制度可以选拔出非常有能力的领导人。在过去30年间，即便他们有缺陷，但正是这些人引领中国经济取得了令世人瞩目的增长。然而，由共识驱动的技术官僚体制如今出现了问题。挑战既来自党内，又来自党外。

党内挑战最戏剧化的体现，就是薄熙来被免去重庆市委书记职务。跟汪洋一样，薄熙来也是从中共基层做起，尽管他是中共八大元老之一薄一波的儿子。薄熙来在大连市、辽宁省和重庆市步步攀升，而他的目标是进入中共中央政治局常委。

薄熙来的主要过错（除去打黑的严酷和腐败等问题）在于，他的权力在很大程度上不是中共赋予的，而是来自他的个人声望。唱红歌、喊口号，薄熙来的做法太像毛泽东的个人崇拜了。这种做法让人联想到“文化大革命这样的历史悲剧”。此话出自中国总理温家宝本月14日在记者招待会上的讲话，而这段讲话宣告了薄熙来政治生命的终结。这一事件迫使中共揭开了“天鹅绒幕布”（前美国驻华大使洪博培(Jon Huntsman)语），把掩盖在中共团结一致外表之下的内部斗争暴露在世人面前。

中共内部还有一些其它因素也在对共识形成挑战。中国共产党太大、太复杂，很难始终保持统一口径。比如，在2010年，中国体制内的一些力量（包括一些前军队将领）在南中国海问题上表现出了更强硬立场，危及到中国多年“微笑外交”的成果——即让亚洲邻国相信，中国崛起不会对它们构成威胁。去年的大部分时间，中国都在试图弥补这一损失。

对共识的挑战也来自中共党外。随着中国城市中产阶级生活水平的提高，这部分人群开始积极以行动问责一些社会问题，从核电站选址，到一些地方官员的不称职。甚至在农村，人们也开始更多地反抗党内腐败，最知名的就是广东省乌坎村。

这只是中共面临的诸多挑战中的几个，而眼下正值党内为十年一度的换届做准备，中国经济也面临从投资导向转向消费导向的一代人一遇的大转型。薄熙来最大的过错就在于，在中共面临如此重大的挑战之际，戳穿了它团结的假象。

最有可能接替胡锦涛担任中国下一任国家主席的习近平不久前在一次讲话中提到，中共有必要收紧对党内的控制。习近平虽然并未点名批评薄熙来，但他告诫中共领导干部不要 “哗众取宠”，也不要“追逐个人功利”，而应该“依靠集体智慧和严格程序来决定”各项政策。他暗示，不这样做，就会出乱子。

3月26日英国战略情报公司Hakluyt发言人对西方媒体证实说， 海沃德先生直到他在重庆神秘死亡前， 一直都在定期为该公司工作。 而就在前一日，英国外交部对媒体表示，它已要求中国就海沃德先生的死亡展开详细调查。

海伍德先生是薄熙来的二子薄瓜瓜在英美留学生活期间的英籍管家，2011年 11月他原因不明地神秘猝死于他在重庆酒店的房间内。地方当局迅速宣布他因“过度饮酒”导致死亡，并未经尸检，即被重庆市原副市长、前公安局长王立军强行火化。海伍德朋友曾向英国大使馆提出疑点，指海伍德滴酒不沾。

据《华尔街日报》报道 Hakluyt战略情报公司是由英国情报部门军情六处前军官创立的。该公司进一步说海伍德先生不是公司的全职雇员，并没有为他们公司咨询过任何重庆的项目。

Briton in China Scandal Advised Intelligence Firm

BEIJING—Neil Heywood, the British businessman whose death in China is now a key element of China's biggest political scandal in two decades, was providing periodic consultancy services to a British strategic-intelligence company up until the time he was found dead in the city of Chongqing in November, a spokesman for the firm said.

But Hakluyt & Co, founded by former officers with the British intelligence service MI6, said he was not a full-time employee and was not consulting for them on any projects in Chongqing, whose Communist Party chief, Bo Xilai, was dismissed this month, throwing elite Chinese politics into turmoil.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that suspicions about Mr. Heywood's death had been raised by Wang Lijun, the former Chongqing police chief who triggered the political drama in Chongqing when he sought refuge from Mr. Bo in the U.S. Consulate in the nearby city of Chengdu on Feb. 6.

Mr. Wang claimed to have fallen out with Mr. Bo after discussing with him his belief that Mr. Heywood was poisoned, according to people familiar with the matter. He also claimed that Mr. Heywood had been involved in a business dispute involving Mr. Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, according to one of those people.

The British government said Sunday it had asked China's central government to investigate the case fully in the light of fresh suspicions about the case, and that Chinese officials had promised to "take it forward" without specifying what action they would take.

On Monday, Chinese officials said they had no knowledge of Mr. Heywood, suggesting the party leadership had once again been caught off balance by the rapidly unfolding and unusually media-driven political drama.

A spokesman for Hakluyt told The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Heywood had been providing the company with services on a case-by-case basis for some time, without specifying exactly how long.

"Neil had a long history of advising Western companies on China and we were among those who sought his advice," the spokesman said. "We're greatly saddened by his death."

He declined to say precisely what services Mr. Heywood provided. The company offers clients strategic business intelligence and advice as well as credit checks and other due-diligence services.

Mr. Heywood's work for Hakluyt was only part-time, and was apparently one of several jobs he had. The level of sensitivity of the projects he was involved in also wasn't clear. However, his connection to the company suggests he may have been engaged in activities that are considered highly sensitive— and sometimes dangerous—in China.

Gathering business intelligence and investigating Chinese firms is a growing industry, and inevitably those engaged in it are often delving into issues of corruption, nepotism and vested bureaucratic interests.

Several acquaintances and former colleagues of Mr. Heywood said they were not aware of what exactly he had been doing in Chongqing in November. But people familiar with the case said his Chinese wife was not in Chongqing at the time, according to people familiar with the case.

People who knew him described him as a well-spoken man in his late 40s or early 50s, often clad in a cream linen jacket and tie, who had lived in China for many years and was known in the business community as a part-time dealer of Aston Martin sports cars.

They say that Mr. Heywood, a Mandarin speaker, also had a reputation as a freelance consultant who could help to arrange meetings and solve business problems thanks in large part to a connection with the Bo family established through his wife, who was from the northeastern city of Dalian, where Mr. Bo was mayor from 1993 to 2001.

Two people who knew him said they thought he had played a role in helping to look after Mr. Bo's son, Bo Guagua, when he was studying at two British private boarding schools—Papplewick and Harrow—and at Oxford University. Two others described him as a "low-level fixer" for the Bo family, suggesting he acted as a middleman for them, helping to arrange meetings with business figures, and advise them on dealing with foreigners.

But even as news of the British request for an investigation spread rapidly across China's popular microblogging services, Hong Lei, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, told a regular news briefing he was unaware of the situation regarding Mr. Heywood.

Pu Jian, a spokesman for the Chongqing police, said he had contacted several police departments and they all had no knowledge of the case. Wang Ya, a director of Chongqing's Foreign Affairs office, the local branch of the Foreign Ministry, also said he was unaware of the case.

The lack of a clear and consistent line from official media and spokespeople in China usually indicates that lower-level officials are still waiting for the party leadership to make a collective decision about how to handle a given situation, according to political analysts.

Many analysts and people close to the party elite believe there is a split in the top leadership between those who support Mr. Bo and want him to remain on the party's Politburo—its top 25 leaders—and those who want him to be ejected and face official punishment.

According to diplomats and other people familiar with the matter, Mr. Wang, the former police chief, asked for political asylum in the U.S. consulate in Chengdu and presented what he said was documentary evidence involving Mr. Bo. He was rejected because U.S. officials feared accepting him would severely damage relations with China. He was persuaded to hand himself over to Chinese central-government officials who took him to Beijing.

It is impossible to substantiate Mr. Wang's allegations or to ascertain the reasons he decided to come forward, and people familiar with the matter said he may be acting in self-interest. Nonetheless, his claims could now be used by Mr. Bo's opponents against him and other leaders who support him.

Efforts to contact Mr. Bo, his wife, Mr. Wang and Mr. Heywood's family were all unsuccessful. A spokesman for the British Embassy in Beijing said the embassy is in touch with Mr. Heywood's relatives and they don't wish to comment.

Mr. Wang's case is raising interest in Congress, as leading lawmakers are seeking to find out if the Obama administration denied the vice mayor of Chongqing political asylum last month.

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.) is requesting access to the communications between the State Department and its Chengdu consulate concerning Mr. Wang's case. The State Department has yet to respond to the congresswoman's request, according to a spokesman for Mrs. Ros-Lehtinen.

The State Department said last month Mr. Wang left the Chengdu consulate under his "own volition." Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland Monday declined to comment on whether Mr. Wang formally requested asylum while at the U.S. consulate last month or if the State Department rejected his request.

After Mr. Heywood was found dead in his Chongqing hotel room in November, local authorities swiftly declared that he died of "excessive alcohol consumption," and cremated the body without an autopsy, according to people familiar with the matter. Friends have since raised suspicions with the British Embassy, pointing out that he was a teetotaler.

One key question in the case is what exactly Mr. Heywood was doing in Chongqing when he died, and what, if any, projects he had been working on there in the recent past. But several friends, acquaintances and former colleagues said they didn't know.

The website for HL Consulting, a Chinese consultancy that also specializes in credit and other due-diligence checks on Chinese companies, said Mr. Heywood had worked as a nonexecutive director for the firm's IPO advisory team.

But Shen Wei, president of HL Consulting, said in an interview that Mr. Heywood had not formally worked for the company, but had proposed adding his name to the website to pursue possible future cooperation. "You know, just to make it look and sound better. So we packaged it as how he asked," Mr. Shen said. He said he gave Mr. Heywood the title of managing director but that he never worked on a single case for the company.

He said he had not seen him for two or three years and had been unaware of his death.

The website described Mr. Heywood as a graduate of Beijing Language and Culture University, a "famous expert" on China's economy, a long-term specialist on large Western pension funds, who had played a role in several business ventures with foreign companies, including Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.'s takeover of Volvo. Volvo didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

One person recalled Mr. Heywood introducing himself at a social event at the British Embassy in Beijing two years ago as an adviser to the city's Aston Martin dealership.

"He was clearly from a good family, in his late 40s or 50s, and was typical British, yet quite old school," the person said.