Interpol's President Is Reported Missing In China, Prompting Inquiry

[Recursion]

Source: NPR

Interpol President Meng Hongwei has been reported missing after leaving France for a trip to his native China, triggering a police investigation and search for the official, who hasn't been seen since Sept. 29.

Meng's whereabouts are unknown. But the South China Morning Post, citing an anonymous source, reports that he was "taken away" by Chinese authorities immediately after he arrived in China. No reason was given for any potential investigation into the official.

Police in Lyon, France — where Interpol is based — were alerted to Meng's seeming disappearance by his wife, who said she became worried when he fell out of touch after leaving for a trip to China, according to Le Parisien. His wife and children live in Lyon, reports Europe 1.

Details about the case are still emerging; as for where Meng is believed to have gone missing, a source told Agence France-Presse, "He did not disappear in France."

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2018/10/05/654714314/interpol-s-president-reported-missing-in-china-prompting-inquiry

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This is weird

[ToxMarz]

1. I hope if I ever go missing (in China no less)

It prompts more than an inquiry

[ancianita]

2. Trump's probably smirking.

[Blue_Tires]

3. Greenwald and Snowden were unavailable for comment

[xor]

10. Is Greenwald also a defender of China?

I know he never has anything bad to say about Putin/Russia. I guess he's one of those guys who thinks anyone who is against the US on anything is always the "good guy" who needs to be supported.

[Kali]

4. weird

[dhill926]

5. Um, shouldn't this be a big deal...

[Recursion]

6. Right?

And now they're saying he's being "held" in China? WTF?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/the-latest-interpol-missing-officer-is-france-china-issue/2018/10/05/4c643ce2-c8a0-11e8-9c0f-2ffaf6d422aa_story.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. It's still a country where corruption and political manoeuvring is widespread

It's possible he was involved in some kind of corruption; it's possible he made the wrong enemy and is being fitted up.

Fan Bingbing, perhaps their most famous actress, disappeared for about 3 months, and has now turned up, and will pay $130 million in back taxes and fines, and praised the Communist Party for setting her straight:

The actress, known for her roles in X-Men: Days of Future Past and Iron Man 3, said Wednesday that she “fully accepted” the conclusions of Chinese authorities. “Without the great policies of the Communist Party and the state, without the people’s love and care, there would be no Fan Bingbing,” she wrote.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211229945

[EleanorR]

7. And now Xi rules for life and makes pancakes with putin, trump's boss

Meng Hongwei's disappearance seems to fit in with a now familiar pattern among China's senior Communist Party officials. The official in question suddenly drops out of the public eye and an alarm is raised that the person is "missing", usually by members of the public.

Eventually, the party issues a terse statement that the official is "under investigation", the official is then booted from the party for "disciplinary infractions" and - eventually - a prison sentence is announced. Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, well over a million party officials have been disciplined in some way.

Mr Hongwei's case is notable for a few reasons. First, his wife notified the French authorities after he had only been missing for a few days. Family members of missing party officials rarely, if ever, reach out to foreign authorities, in fear their relatives will face ever greater punishment.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45761466

[Socal31]

11. Unfortunately, China has realized that might makes right.

They, much like post-WWII America, can and will do whatever they please. The only nation that has the ability to stand up to them is the US, and the only time we do it is when it benefits us economically (our Freedom of Navigation adventures in the SCS, for example).

Their mass "re-education" camps for Muslims should be a HUGE deal as well.

[saidsimplesimon]

9. China disappears them, the GRU kills them in plain sight

Weird? No, Zi has no doubt placed the order for his "disappearance".


http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-ca-cm-ai-wei-wei-la-shows-20180927-story.html

Dissident artist Ai Weiwei lands in L.A. with 3 new exhibitions — but one work nearly didn't make the journey

By Deborah Vankin

Sep 27, 2018
Ai Weiwei is weary from travel.

The Chinese artist and human rights activist shuffles into the Marciano Art Foundation's cavernous Theater Gallery — he arrived in L.A. from Berlin just last night and has spent about half the year, he says, traversing the globe making films or exhibiting art. The Marciano space, a former Masonic temple theater, is dimly lighted and nearly empty, a box of cool, gray concrete. But at the far end of the room, light emanates from a new piece Ai has created – he's seeing it installed here for the first time
.
Ai slowly makes his way across the room, soft spoken and a bit spacey, his loose cotton clothing fluttering ever so slightly from the AC — as if crossing a dark ocean toward the light. Finally, he peers over a railing into the glowing, sunken Black Box gallery housing his work. His cheeks lift and his eyes brighten.
..snip
Ai, an outspoken political dissident, has long been targeted by the Chinese Communist government for channeling his social justice activism into online projects and art that has resonated around the world. In 2011 he was arrested and detained, in a secret location, for 81 days after having been accused of vague economic crimes. Since getting his passport back in 2015, he's resided in Berlin but has kept an active studio in Beijing, his Zuoyou studio, where "Life Cycle" was assembled under his guidance.

Just days after the artwork was shipped to L.A., Ai's Beijing studio was demolished by the Chinese government. No one was hurt, but some artworks were damaged, others totally destroyed. He'd been alerted, months earlier, that he'd eventually have to vacate the space because it was being redeveloped – but the demolition began, as a surprise to him, before the mutually agreed upon evacuation date and without his consent.

"It was quite surreal, I was shocked," he says. "But in a state like China, you have no space to make any kind of argument or communication. You have to just stand there and watch."

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Meng Hongwei: China confirms detention of Interpol chief

China has confirmed it is holding the missing head of Interpol, Meng Hongwei.

Beijing said he was under investigation by the country's anti-corruption body for unspecified breaches of the law.

Mr Meng, who is also listed as a vice-minister of public security in China, was reported missing after travelling from the city of Lyon in France, where Interpol is based, to China.
...
The fact that news of his detention was released by Beijing's anti-corruption authority suggests Mr Meng has been caught up in the broad anti-corruption campaign ordered by President Xi Jinping, and which has already led to the disappearance of many senior figures, our correspondent adds.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-45777681