英国官员获准旁听谷开来案庭审
Chinese authorities have agreed to allow two British officials into the courtroom to observe the murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of the disgraced politician Bo Xilai.
中国当局已经同意让两位英国官员旁听谷开来的庭审过程，谷是已落马的政界人士薄熙来之妻。"Two officials are going in a consular capacity" when the trial starts on Thursday, said the British embassy in Beijing.
驻北京的英国大使馆表示，本周四开庭的时候，"两位英国官员将以领事官员的身份出庭旁听。"According to Chinese state media, Ms Gu and Zhang Xiaojun, a family aide, have been indicted on charges of murdering Neil Heywood, a British businessman who had acted as an adviser to the family.
中国官方媒体报道，谷开来及薄家勤务人员张晓军被控杀害英国商人尼尔•海伍德(Neil Heywood)，海伍德曾是薄家的顾问。
Giving foreign diplomats such access is highly unusual, especially for a politically sensitive trial.
让外国外交官旁听庭审是很不寻常的，特别是政治敏感的案件。By announcing the date relatively early by Chinese standards, Beijing indicated it was trying to demonstrate some degree of openness in a case linked to conflict in the inner sanctum of the opaque ruling Communist party.
根据中国标准，这次开庭日期的宣布相对较早，表明北京正努力在这件案子上展示一定的开放度，本案与中共党内冲突有关。But the court in Hefei, in the central province of Anhui where the trial will be held, said all places in the courtroom had already been taken when asked about access for reporters. Such an explanation is commonly used to keep the press and public away from sensitive trials.
然而，将要开庭审理此案的安徽省合肥市中级法院，在被问及记者能否旁听时表示，法庭所有的座位都已经有安排。在敏感案件的审理中，这是一种把媒体和公众挡在门外的一个惯用解释。Mr Heywood died last November in a hotel room in Chongqing, the southwestern city where Mr Bo was Communist party secretary until he was purged in April.
海伍德去年11月死于重庆一家酒店。薄熙来在4月份被停止职务之前曾担任重庆市委书记。Initially, Mr Heywood's family was told he had died of a heart attack, while the British government was offered the explanation that his death followed a drinking binge. Nobody questioned his death at the time.
最初，海伍德的家庭被告知他死于心脏病发作，而英国政府得到的解释则是他死于酗酒之后。当时没有人质疑他的死因。But in April, Chinese authorities said Ms Gu had been detained under suspicion of being involved in the alleged murder of Mr Heywood, while her husband had been suspended from all posts and detained, accused of severe violations of party discipline.
但在今年4月份，中国官方称，由于在海伍德被杀案中有重大作案嫌疑，谷开来已经被拘留。同时他的丈夫也由于"严重违反党纪"而被停职，接受审查。Those moves came after Wang Lijun, the former Chongqing police chief under Mr Bo, fled to the US consulate in nearby Chengdu, in February offering to provide details about the alleged murder.
在此之前，曾在薄熙来手下工作的重庆市前公安局长王立军曾在今年2月进入成都美国领事馆，提出愿意提供此次谋杀指称的具体细节。The drama is unfolding as the ruling party prepares for the once-a-decade leadership succession, which involves intense behind-the-scenes negotiations for posts and factional balancing. Mr Bo had threatened to throw this process into disarray as he made a highly public push for power.
这件事浮出水面之际，中国执政党正准备进行十年一次的领导层换届，这个过程涉及大量关于职务人选和派系平衡的幕后协商。薄熙来曾高调公开争取"入常"，一度对整个换届过程的平稳进行构成了威胁。Some party officials believe that a guilty verdict for his wife would be enough to justify Mr Bo's removal from the political stage, while others think the party would prosecute him for corruption after Ms Gu's trial.
一些中共官员认为，只要薄妻被定罪，就足以把薄熙来赶下政治舞台，而其他人则认为，中共将在谷开来案庭审结束后以腐败罪名对薄熙来提起公诉。State media said Ms Gu had been charged with poisoning Mr Heywood and that an investigation had said it was because she was worried about a threat from Mr Heywood to her son's personal security following conflict with the British consultant over "economic interests".
官方媒体报道，谷开来被控投毒杀害了海伍德，称经调查发现，由于与这位英国顾问发生"经济利益"上的冲突，谷开来担忧海伍德对她儿子的人身安全构成威胁。Some legal experts see this as an indication that the court may show leniency towards Ms Gu.
一些法律专家认为，这表明法庭可能会从宽处理谷开来。
