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AFP
Meng Hongwei is a senior communist party leader as well as the president of Interpol
The international police agency Interpol urged China to clarify the status of its president, Meng Hongwei, missing during a visit to the country.
The agency is said to be concerned about the welfare of its president.
His family has not heard from him since leaving Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France, on September 25th. China has not made any official comment.
The South China Morning Post, quoted by a source, is quoted as saying that Mr. Meng, 64, was "taken away" for interrogation in China.
The reason he is the subject of an investigation by the "authorities of the discipline" or his place of detention, adds the newspaper based in Hong Kong.
- Chinese official at the head of Interpol
Earlier this week, actress Fan Bingbing, who disappeared in China in July, issued a public apology and fined 883 million yuan ($ 129 million) for tax evasion and other offenses.
What is the complete statement of Interpol?
Postponed on the Interpol website and quoting Secretary General Juergen Stock, he said: "Interpol has asked the Chinese authorities to clarify the ways of order, in order to clarify the status of President Meng Hongwei.
"The Interpol General Secretariat is looking forward to an official response from the Chinese authorities to address concerns about the welfare of the president."
Mr. Stock oversees the day-to-day work of the 192-member organization, with the role of chairman being essentially ceremonial.
Interpol coordinates research among its members, issuing yellow notices for missing persons and a red notice – an international alert – for a wanted person. However, it does not have the power to send officers to countries to arrest individuals or issue warrants of arrest.
Interpol had previously indicated that Mr Meng's case was "reserved for competent authorities in France and China". France has opened an investigation.
Who is Meng Hongwei?
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EPA
He was elected President of Interpol in November 2016, the first Chinese to hold this position, and he is expected to remain in office until 2020.
He heads the executive committee of the organization, which provides general direction and direction.
Before taking up his post at Interpol, Mr. Meng was Deputy Minister of Public Security in China and is still a senior Communist Party official.
He also has 40 years of experience in the field of criminal justice and police in China, particularly in the fields of drugs, counter-terrorism and border control.
After his election, human rights groups expressed concern that the measure could help China to prosecute political dissidents who fled the country.
Meng Hongwei irritated China?
Analysis by Celia Hatton, Editor-in-Chief, BBC Asia
The disappearance of Meng Hongwei seems to correspond to a now familiar pattern among senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party. The official in question suddenly disappears from the public eye and an alarm sounds that the person is "missing", usually by members of the public.
In the end, the party publishes a short statement that the leader is "under investigation", the leader is then thrown out of the party for "disciplinary offenses" and – possibly – a prison sentence is announced. Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, more than one million party leaders have been sanctioned in one way or another.
The case of Mr. Meng is remarkable for several reasons. First of all, his wife warned the French authorities that he had been away for only a few days. Family members of missing party leaders rarely contact foreign authorities for fear that their relatives will be punished more and more.
Did the woman do this because she felt that there was no other option? In addition, at one point, China appreciated Mr Meng's high position in Interpol.
Did he really disappear within the Chinese state apparatus, which he irritated, or what could he have done for Beijing to voluntarily and publicly renounce to the post prominent within Interpol?
