The former Chinese president of Interpol, Meng Hongwei , has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and stripped of all his positions for serious violation of the law and discipline, the party watchdog said on Wednesday. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said the Central Committee of the Communist Party had also approved an investigation into Meng, 65, who was a member of the committee and vice-minister for public security. The CCDI accused Meng of abusing his position and power for personal gain, squandering state funds to finance his family’s extravagant lifestyle, and disregarding the principles of being a party member. In a rare gesture, the statement also accused Meng of encouraging his wife to use his status to further her own interests. Any assets acquired as a result of Meng’s alleged illegal activities would be handed over to prosecutors in accordance with the law, the watchdog said. Once a rising political star , Meng made his way up the ranks of China’s public security apparatus to become head of the Chinese branch of Interpol in 2004, and the nation’s first president of the global organisation in 2016. His subsequent downfall was seen as the final stage of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s sweeping clean-up of the top leadership of the public security ministry, which controls the nation’s 2 million strong police force. The dramatic events surrounding Meng’s disappearance in September also provided evidence of Beijing prioritising its domestic agenda over the need to present itself as a capable and appropriate leader of an international organisation like Interpol. Removal of Meng Hongwei completes reshaping of public security ministry Deng Yuwen, an independent political analyst based in the United States, said the way in which the incident was handled could affect how China is perceived by the global policing body, but was unlikely to have a long-term impact in other areas. “Meng’s case may affect other Chinese officials’ chances of leading Interpol for a while as it was really an embarrassment,” he said. “But the wider impact on China’s role in international organisations will be limited as there are only a few Chinese officials in senior positions, such as at the World Health Organisation.” If they ever became embroiled in a corruption scandal Beijing would handle the cases very differently, Deng said. Meng was last heard from on September 25 after leaving his home in the French city of Lyon bound for China. He sent his wife, Grace Meng, a message on social media telling her to “wait for my call”, along with a knife emoji suggesting he was in some kind of danger. Grace Meng reported her husband missing to the French authorities on October 4 and was later put under police protection after receiving threatening messages over the telephone and online. Earlier this year she applied for asylum in France. On October 6, Interpol issued a request to the Chinese government for information on Meng’s whereabouts and the CCDI replied the next day saying he had been detained in connection with an investigation into alleged corruption. Agence France-Presse reported that Grace Meng, who has not spoken to her husband since he went missing, asked French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his recent European tour. In a letter to the Elysee Palace dated March 21, she “asks to know where and how he is”, the report said. Despite her request, there have been no reports that Xi and Macron discussed the matter.
