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PARIS – Interpol has formally asked China to provide information on its president, a Chinese national who reportedly disappeared during a trip to his country of origin, citing concerns about his well-being .
The agency for global police cooperation has resorted to repressive means to submit its application regarding the status of its missing president, Meng Hongwei, said Saturday in a brief statement.
The agency "looks forward to an official response from the Chinese authorities to address concerns about the well-being of the president," the statement said.
Officials in China, who is in the middle of a national holiday for a week, have not commented yet.
Meng's wife said she had not heard from her since she left Lyon, the city in central France where Interpol is based in September. France has opened its own investigation. The French authorities stated that he had boarded the plane and that he had arrived in China, but his whereabouts are unknown.
Mr. Meng, 64, is also vice minister of public security in China.
Earlier, Interpol had stated that the reports of Mr. Meng's disappearance were "the responsibility of the competent authorities in France and China".
The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, hinted that Mr. Meng was perhaps the latest target of a campaign against corruption in China.
The newspaper said that when he arrived last week, Mr. Meng was "taken away" for being questioned by "disciplinary authorities". This term generally refers to investigators of the ruling Communist Party who investigate corruption and political disloyalty.
The Central Discipline Inspection Board, the party's internal secret investigative agency, did not advertise Mr. Meng's website and could not be contacted for comment.
Mr. Meng is the first in his country to serve as President of Interpol, a largely symbolic but powerful position. Its absence may have little operational effect: the Secretary General of Interpol is responsible for its day-to-day operation.
The organization connects police officers from its 192 member states, who can use it to disseminate their research in search of a fugitive or missing person. It is only on the order of a country that the information is made public via a "red notice", which is the closest to an international arrest warrant. . "Yellow notices" are issued for missing persons.
The appointment of Mr. Meng to the presidency in 2016 – in the midst of the vast anti-corruption campaign of Chinese leader Xi Jinping – has alarmed some human rights organizations, fearing that China will not be able to do so. encourages China to attack dissidents and refugees abroad.
Mr. Meng has held various security positions in China, including as Deputy Minister of Public Security since 2004; it is still listed on the ministry's website as the holder of this post. His term as President of Interpol expands until 2020.
His duties in China would have put him close to former leaders, some of whom had gone to Xi's campaign. He will probably have dealt a lot with Zhou Yongkang, a former security chief who is currently serving a life sentence for corruption.
