Detention of Interpol’s Meng Hongwei ‘harms confidence in Chinese leaders of global bodies’

The disappearance and detention of the Chinese president of the global policing body Interpol as part of Beijing’s anticorruption drive is an unprecedented move that will shake the international community’s confidence in Chinese leadership of global organisations, analysts say.

Meng Hongwei, also a vice-minister of public security in China, was placed under investigation by Chinese authorities for allegedly taking bribes and “gravely jeopardising” the country’s ruling Communist Party and police.

In a public security meeting on Monday, officials said the investigation of Meng and his associates for alleged illegal activities “fully showed there was no privilege or exception before the law”.

Interpol said on Sunday that it had received Meng’s resignation, after the organisation asked Chinese authorities for information on his status to “address concerns over the president’s well-being”.

Analysts said that the targeting of Meng – who in 2016 became the first Chinese national to head Interpol – showed no one is immune to Beijing’s sprawling anti-corruption campaign but raised broader concerns about the role of Chinese officials as leaders of international organisations.

Paul Haenle, director of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy in Beijing, a joint US-China research centre, said Meng’s sudden disappearance had sent shock waves through the international community, lending credence to critics who said China was not ready to take on important leadership roles.

Read the full article and more at the South China Morning Post.