(Sing Tao Daily reported) Meng Hongwei, chairman of Interpol and vice minister of the Ministry of Public Security of China (ministerial level), disappeared after returning to China from France at the end of last month. Meng's wife held a press conference in France the day before yesterday, calling for the attention of the international community.The Ministry of Public Security held an emergency meeting in the early hours of yesterday, notifying that Meng Hongwei accepted bribes and was suspected of violating the law.", indicating that other officials may be involved in the investigation.Interpol said it received Meng Hongwei's resignation on Sunday, effective immediately.
The website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection confirmed for the first time late Sunday night: "Meng Hongwei is suspected of violating the law and is currently under investigation by the State Supervisory Commission."Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said yesterday that Meng Hongwei had submitted a written document to the Interpol General Secretariat to resign as chairman.
According to the website of the Ministry of Public Security, State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi presided over a meeting of the Ministry of Public Security Party Committee in the early hours of yesterday to inform Meng Hongwei of accepting bribes and being investigated for alleged violations.The meeting unanimously agreed that the investigation was "very timely, completely correct, and very wise," and that Meng Hongwei's fall was entirely the result of his "willful will and self-inflicted blame."
The meeting called for a deep understanding of the serious harm of the Meng Hongwei case, to learn from the lessons, and to "resolutely and thoroughly eradicate the influence of Zhou Yongkang's persecution."The meeting also called for "organizing a special team to investigate and deal with persons suspected of accepting bribes with Meng Hongwei in accordance with the law."The meeting did not announce the specifics of Meng Hongwei's case, but mentioned that "relatives and staff around them should be strictly required to be honest and self-disciplined, to run the family cleanly, to truly live a good family relationship and relationship, and to treat the corruption around them with 'zero tolerance'.", also mentioned that "strictly implement the regulations on strict management of cadres", "it is absolutely not allowed to negotiate conditions or 'price' with the organization."
The 64-year-old Meng Hongwei was Assistant Minister of Public Security and Director of the Traffic Management Bureau. In 2004, he served as Deputy Minister of Public Security and Director of the China National Central Bureau of Interpol. He was one of the deputies of then Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang.Zhou Yongkang dominated the political and legal system for ten years, was promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee from 2007 to 2012, and was sentenced to life imprisonment for bribery in June 2015.In recent years, many of Zhou Yongkang's confidantes have been involved in accidents, including Li Dongsheng, former deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Security, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes, and another deputy minister, Yang Huanning, who seriously violated discipline and was demoted to "party probation."
Interpol issued a statement yesterday saying that it received Meng Hongwei's resignation on the 7th with immediate effect, but did not explain the reason for his resignation.According to the New York Times, Meng Hongwei became the chairman of Interpol two years ago. At that time, it was considered a major progress for the Chinese to lead the international organization, but now Meng Hongwei was suddenly detained by the Chinese side, destroying this progress.Julian Ku, a professor at Hofstra University in the United States, said that China's actions in this case "show that domestic considerations outweigh international considerations" and that "Meng Hongwei 'disappeared' without notifying Interpol.This fact will undermine China's efforts to expand its influence around the world."
