PARIS (Reuters) - Interpol said on Sunday that Meng Hongwei - whom China says is being investigated over suspected violations of the law - had resigned as president of the international police organization.

“Today, Sunday 7 October, (at) the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon, France received the resignation of Mr Meng Hongwei as President of Interpol with immediate effect,” Interpol said in a statement.

Interpol said South Korean national Kim Jong Yang would becomes its acting president, while it would appoint a new president at a Nov 18-21 meeting of the organization in Dubai. </s> BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s antigraft watchdog said late on Sunday that the Chinese authorities were investigating Meng Hongwei, who heads the global law enforcement organization Interpol, for suspected violations of the law.

Meng, who is also a vice minister of public security in China, had been reported missing after traveling from France, where Interpol is based, to China, and his wife has been placed under police protection after receiving threats.

French police were investigating what is officially termed in France a “worrying disappearance”. </s> Meng Hongwei, the president of the international law enforcement agency Interpol who mysteriously disappeared last week, was missing because he was detained by the Chinese government. On Sunday night, three days after Meng was reported missing, the Chinese Communist Party announced that he had been detained as part of an investigation by the party’s corruption and loyalty watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. which suspected him of “violating the law.’ ” On Saturday, Interpol had demanded that China provide information about Meng’s whereabouts, but officials in the country, which is currently celebrating a weeklong holiday, did not reply. On Sunday, after Meng’s detention was confirmed, Interpol then announced that he had resigned from his post effective immediately.

The last person in contact with the 64-year-old Meng was his wife,

Grace, who told reporters before China’s announcement that she had received a WhatsApp message from him containing nothing but a knife emoji after he had arrived in China, which came several minutes after a message which said, “wait for my call.” When she heard nothing more, she alerted French police and reported him missing on Thursday.

The secretary general of Interpol heads the agency, while Meng had the symbolic but powerful position of running its executive committee, which works on official strategy. He was the first Chinese national to hold the position, which he was appointed to in 2016. And though Meng lives with his family Lyon, France, where Interpol is headquartered, he also retained an official role in China as the country’s vice minister of public security. In the end, China clearly decided that his role at Interpol did not prevent them from detaining him and not even admitting it for days. China has been known to carry out such detentions for years. It is not yet what Meng did to make himself a target.

Interpol still hasn’t confirmed whether or not he was visiting China on agency business. CNN reported earlier Sunday that the way Meng went missing was, in fact, pretty common when senior officials of China’s ruling Communist Party are accused of violating its rules. The South China Morning Post, a newspaper known for its connections to China’s government, itself reported that Meng had been detained for questioning by upon landing in China last week, and indicated he may have been the target of an ongoing anti-corruption campaign in the country — a campaign which Chinese president Xi Jinping has used to consolidate his power. In fact, according to the Times, Meng’s presidency had alarmed some human rights groups at the time he was appointed, as they worried he would use Interpol resources to help China go after dissidents abroad. </s> Interpol said Sunday it had received the resignation of its president, deepening the mystery of the disappearance of Meng Honwei, a Chinese government official who has been missing since last week.

His wife said Sunday her last contact with him came via a WhatsApp text message with a knife emoji and the instructions, “Wait for my call.”

Grace Meng delivered the information to reporters from her hotel room in Lyon, France.

Interpol tweeted Sunday night that it received Meng’s resignation and that Kim Jong Yang of South Korea, a vice president representing Asia on Interpol’s executive committee, would serve as acting president until Interpol’s general assembly picks a permanent president next month.

Interpol has asked Chinese authorities for information about Meng Hongwei. The disciplinary arm of China’s Communist Party released a statement saying Meng “is under investigation by the National Supervision Commission for alleged violations of laws.”

The Interpol statement announcing Meng’s resignation did not mention that he is missing.

Grace Meng said her husband’s whereabouts is a matter that “belongs to the international community.” She added, “Although I can’t see my husband, we are always connected by heart.”

Asked about the text message Grace Meng received, the French Interior Ministry said through a spokesman it has no information to share.

In a statement posted to Twitter on Saturday, Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said, “Interpol has requested through official law enforcement channels clarification from China’s authorities on the status of Interpol President Meng Hongwei.”

“Interpol’s General Secretariat looks forward to an official response from China’s authorities to address concerns over the President’s well-being,” the statement continued.

Meng Hongwei, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, was the first Chinese official to become president of Interpol, which is based in Lyon. He was not on French soil when he was last seen, according a senior French law enforcement official, who declined to say whether he was in China.

Meng’s wife went to police in Lyon on Thursday to report his disappearance, according to the French Interior Ministry. She told police that she last heard from him 10 days prior and had received threats on social media and by telephone, according to the statement.

“France is looking into the situation of the President of Interpol and is concerned about the threats his wife has received,” the statement said.

It adds that a “suitable police mechanism” was put in place to guarantee Grace Meng’s safety, and that the prosecutor’s office in Lyon has opened an investigation.

A spokeswoman for Interpol, who declined to give her name, refused to say whether Meng had been on official business in China.

“Interpol is aware of media reports in connection with the alleged disappearance of Interpol President Meng Hongwei. This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China,” Interpol said in a statement, declining to comment further.

Meng, who is China’s vice minister for public security and a former head of Interpol China, was elected president of Interpol in November 2016.

The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based newspaper known for its connections inside the Chinese government, said Meng was “taken away” for questioning upon landing in China last week. The newspaper cited an unnamed source.

Meng’s vanishing act bears hallmarks of what happens to senior officials when they are suspected of violating party rules, usually alleged corruption.

Meng oversees the agency’s executive committee, which sets overall strategy. Interpol’s secretary-general is responsible for the day-to-day operations. </s> Interpol says it has received the resignation of Meng Hongwei, the Chinese president of the international police organisation who went missing one week ago.

A statement released by Interpol on Sunday said that Meng has resigned with immediate effect.

Senior vice president Kim Jong Yang of South Korea will become acting president, pending the election of a successor. The statement gave no further details.

The announcement came shortly after China's top anti-corruption body said that Meng is under investigation in that country, ending days of speculation about his whereabouts but still leaving many questions unanswered.

A brief statement on the website of the Chinese National Supervisory Committee said only that Meng was suspected of breaking the law and was under "supervision", a euphemism for in detention.

His family lost touch with him after he travelled from France, where Interpol is based, to China.

Meng's wife has said her husband sent her an image of a knife before he disappeared.

Making her first public comments on the mystery surrounding Meng's whereabouts, Grace Meng on Sunday told reporters in Lyon, France - where Interpol is based - she thinks the knife was her husband's way of trying to tell her he was in danger.

She said she has had no further contact with him since the message was sent on September 25.

Four minutes before Meng shared the image, he sent a message saying "wait for my call", she said.

French prosecutors said on Friday they had launched an investigation.

On Saturday, Interpol formally requested China to notify the organisation of Meng's whereabouts.

Meng is also a vice minister of public security in China. He was elected president of Interpol in 2016 and was due to serve until 2020, according to the organisation's website.

It was unclear how Meng, the first Chinese national to lead Interpol, could have fallen foul of the Chinese authorities.

Meng's case draws parallels with other high-profile detentions in China, where President Xi Jinping has launched a massive anti-corruption drive since taking office five years ago.

The campaign has since punished over 1 million officials of varying stature, who are often suddenly detained without warning only to emerge later in detention.

It is highly irregular, however, for the head of an international organisation of the size and distinction of Interpol to disappear.

Meng's case follows another major disappearance in China of actress Fan Bingbing, who was out of the public eye for months until it was revealed last week that she had been under investigation by tax authorities. </s> French police have opened an investigation into the whereabouts of the president of international police cooperation agency Interpol, after his wife reported he had gone missing after travelling home to his native China last week. The French interior ministry said on Friday his wife has been placed under protection after threats.

The ministry said the Interpol chief left Lyon, France, where the international police organization is based, and arrived in China at the end of September. She said there had been no news of him since.

Interpol is aware of media reports in connection with the alleged disappearance of INTERPOL President Meng Hongwei. This is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China. The Secretary-General is the Organization’s full-time official responsible for the day to day running of Interpol. Interpol’s General Secretariat headquarters will not comment further.

China has not commented officially on Meng’s disappearance and there was no mention of him in official media on Saturday.

The 64-year-old Meng Hongwei was elected president of Interpol in November 2016. His term is due to run until 2020. A vice minister of public security in China, he previously served as vice chairman of the national narcotics control commission and director of the National Counter-Terrorism Office for China.

Meng’s appointment at Interpol raised concerns among human rights campaigners who said China has a track record of marrying politics and policing. East and South East Asia Regional Director for Amnesty International, Nicholas Bequelin, was one such voice.

This is extraordinarily worrying given China's longstanding practice of trying to use Interpol to arrest dissidents and refugees abroad.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has waged a crackdown on corruption in recent years that saw high level politicians taken to trial over their misdeeds. China filed a list of 100 of its most-wanted suspects with Interpol in April 2014, about one third of which have since been repatriated. </s> PARIS (AP) — Interpol has made a formal request to China for information about its missing Chinese president who seemingly vanished on a trip home, citing concerns for his well-being.

The Lyon-based international police agency said in a brief statement Saturday that it used law enforcement channels to submit its request about the status of Meng Hongwei.

The agency “looks forward to an official response from China’s authorities to address concerns over the president’s well-being,” the statement said.

China, in the midst of a weeklong holiday, had yet to comment.

Meng’s wife says she hasn’t heard from him since he left Lyon at the end of September. France has launched its own investigation. French authorities say he boarded a plane and arrived in China, but the 64-year-old’s subsequent whereabouts are unknown.

Meng is also a vice minister for public security in China.

Previously, Interpol had said that reports about Meng’s disappearance were “a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China.”

The South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, has suggested that Meng may have been the latest target of an ongoing campaign against corruption in China.

The newspaper said that upon landing last week Meng was “taken away” for questioning by what it said were “discipline authorities.” The term usually describes investigators in the ruling Communist Party who probe graft and political disloyalty. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party’s secretive internal investigation agency, had no announcements on its website about Meng and couldn’t be reached for comment.

Meng is the first from his country to serve as Interpol’s president, a post that is largely symbolic but powerful in status. Because Interpol’s secretary general is responsible for the day-to-day running of the agency’s operations, Meng’s absence may have little operational effect.

The organization links up police officials of its 192 member states, who can use Interpol to disseminate their search for a fugitive, or a missing person. Only at the behest of a country does the information go public via a “red notice,” the closest thing to an international arrest warrant. “Yellow notices” are issued for missing persons.

Meng’s appointment as president in 2016 — amid Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption drive — alarmed some human rights organizations, fearful it would embolden China to strike out at dissidents and refugees abroad.

Meng has held various positions within China’s security establishment, including as a vice minister of public security since 2004. His term as Interpol president runs until 2020.

His duties in China would have put him in close proximity to former leaders, some who fell afoul of Xi’s campaign. He likely dealt extensively with former security chief Zhou Yongkang, now serving a life sentence for corruption. </s> BEIJING: Chinese authorities say they are investigating the former president of Interpol for bribery and other crimes and indicate that political transgressions may have also landed him in trouble.

ALSO READ | Wife says Interpol officer sent knife image as danger signal

In a statement posted on a government website Monday, the authorities said Meng Hongwei, China's vice minister for public security, was being investigated due to his own "willfulness and for bringing trouble upon himself."

ALSO READ | Interpol asks China for information on its missing President​

Interpol announced Sunday that Meng had resigned as president of the international police agency, effective immediately, shortly after China made a brief announcement that Meng was under investigation.

Meng's unexplained disappearance in China late last month, which had prompted the French government and Interpol to make their concerns known publicly, threatened to tarnish Beijing's image. </s> BEIJING - China said on Sunday that it was investigating Meng Hongwei, after the head of the global law enforcement organisation Interpol and Chinese vice minister for security was reported missing in France.

Meng had been reported missing by his wife after traveling last month from France, where Interpol is based, to China.

“Public Security Ministry Vice Minister Meng Hongwei is currently under investigation by the National Supervisory Commission for suspected violations of law,” the Chinese anti-graft body said in a brief statement on its website.

The statement was the first from China since Meng’s disappearance was reported in France on Friday.

When asked about the Chinese announcement on Sunday, France’s Interior Ministry said it had no information.

The French ministry said on Friday that Meng’s family had not heard from him since 25 September, and the French authorities said his wife had been placed under police protection after receiving threats.

French police have been investigating what is officially termed in France a “worrying disappearance”.

Interpol had said it had asked Beijing to clarify Meng’s situation. The organisation had no immediate comment on Sunday.

Local French media reported that Meng’s wife had issued a brief statement from a hotel in Lyon, in which she expressed her concerns over the situation.

“As long as I can’t see my husband in front of me, speaking to me, I can’t have any confidence,” Grace Meng was quoted as saying by French TV stations and Sunday newspapers which added she made the comments with her back to a TV camera, in order to hide her appearance.

Reuters could not confirm those comments attributed to her.

Meng, 64, was named to the post of Interpol president in late 2016, part of a broader Chinese effort to gain leadership positions in key international organisations.

Presidents of Interpol are seconded from their national administrations and remain in their home post while representing the international policing body.

Interpol, which groups 192 countries and is usually focused on finding people who are missing or wanted, is run on a day-to-day basis by its secretary general, Juergen Stock.

When Meng was named Interpol’s president, human rights groups expressed concern that Beijing might try to leverage his position to pursue dissidents abroad. Beijing has in the past pressed countries to arrest and deport to China citizens it accuses of crimes, from corruption to terrorism.

Under President Xi Jinping, China has been engaged in a crackdown on corruption. </s> Paris, Oct 6 (IANS) Interpol’s Secretary General on Saturday asked the Chinese authorities to clarify the status of the international police organization’s President Meng Hongwei, who reportedly went missing while on a trip to China seven days ago.

Jurgen Stock said Interpol used official law enforcement channels to convey its message to the Chinese authorities and also asked them to address concerns over the well-being of Meng, Efe news reported.

“Interpol’s General Secretariat looks forward to an official response from the Chinese authorities to address concerns over the President’s well-being,” said Stock.

The International Criminal Police Organization, more commonly referred to as Interpol, is a France-based organization that links together international police forces and helps facilitate cooperation between them.

France had on Friday opened an investigation into the alleged disappearance of Meng, whose wife said he went missing on a trip to China.

There has been no news regarding his whereabouts since he left Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon for his native China on September 28.

His wife, who remained in France with their two children, reported her concerns to the police, who launched a probe.

Meng, 64, a high ranking member of China’s Communist Party, was elected as head of Interpol in 2016, replacing Mireille Ballestrazzi.

He thus became the first Chinese national to head the organization, but his nomination met opposition from activist groups critical of China’s track record on human rights.

Interpol links police forces in 192 countries and enables them to work together to fight crime on an international scale.

It provides expertise and capabilities, particularly in three main crime scenarios: Counter-terrorism, cybercrime, and organized as well as emerging crime.
The Communist Party of China announces that Interpol president Meng Hongwei is suspected of violating the law and is "under the supervision" of a party anticorruption watchdog. Hours later, Interpol announces that it has received his resignation.