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China accuses former Interpol chief of bribery, calls arrest ‘correct and wise’
Meng Hongwei was possibly the most high-profile Chinese appointee in an international organisation.
Meng Hongwei, the former Interpol chief, is under investigation for taking bribes, China’s ministry of public security (MPS) said on Monday, becoming the latest top official to fall in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption.
Meng, who is also the vice-minister in MPS, was arrested last month after reaching China from Lyon, the Interpol’s global headquarters in France. The discipline inspection department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday released a one-line statement to say that Meng was under investigation. The Interpol announced soon after that Meng had resigned.
“The investigation against Meng Hongwei’s taking and giving bribes and suspected violations of law is very timely, absolutely correct and rather wise,” said the MPS statement after an internal meeting.
The ministry will “unswervingly promote construction of party conduct, honest governance and fight corruption,” said the statement signed by Zhao Kezhi, member of CPC’s elite Politburo standing committee and minister for public security.
Meng, 64, was appointed the world police organisation’s chief in 2016 and was possibly the most high-profile Chinese appointee in an international organisation.
He and his family had moved to Lyon soon after the appointment. His wife, Grace Meng reported him missing over the weekend, saying she had not heard from her husband since September 25.
It is rare for the family of a high-profile corruption suspect in China to go public about the case.
Beijing’s decision to arrest a high-profile official on a posting abroad could be an indication that the stakes in this particular case are high. The CPC was willing to risk the embarrassment and media attention Meng’s arrest would create.
“China’s leaders have long recognised corruption as the greatest threat to the CPC’s legitimacy and sustainability. After taking office as CPC general secretary in November 2012, President Jinping vowed to institutionalise the CPC’s ongoing anti-corruption efforts and called for strengthened laws to punish and prevent corruption,” Jamie P. Horsley from the Paul Tsai China Centre and a Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School wrote for The Diplomat earlier this year.
“After five years of an anti-corruption campaign that investigated more than 2.7 million officials, punished more than 1,5 million and criminally tried 58,000, Xi pressed for reform of the supervision system effectively constrain the power of public servants ‘in a cage of regulations’ under CCP leadership,” Horsley wrote.
According to AFP, Meng rose through the ranks of the country’s domestic security apparatus when it was under the leadership of Zhou Yongkang, a rival to Xi and the highest-ranking official to be brought down on corruption charges.
Zhou, who was jailed for life in 2014, was subsequently accused of conspiring to seize state power.
He appointed Meng vice security minister in 2004.
The report added that China currently has 44 outstanding red notices, mostly related to murder, intentional injury and drug smuggling, according to Interpol’s website.
During Meng’s tenure, Interpol issued a red notice for fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who threatened to reveal corruption at the country’s highest levels and is accused by Chinese authorities of money laundering.
