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Meng Hongwei

Meng Hongwei

The Chinese head of Interpol vanished in September 2018 after returning to his homeland. In October 2018, Interpol said Meng Hongwei had resigned and the Chinese government confirmed his detention, saying he was under investigation for possible criminal activity.

Born

Nov 1953

Industry

Politics

Job Title

Former President of Interpol

Zhang Shiping, former vice-chairwoman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, is the 65th high-ranking official to be ensnared in President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption crackdown in 2025. Photo: Handout

China’s Communist Party

China steps up anti-corruption fight as crackdown snares 65 ‘tigers’ in 2025

Communist Party mouthpiece calls for tighter discipline in coming years, echoing Xi Jinping’s New Year’s address.

3 Jan 2026 - 8:42PMvideocam

China’s Communist Party

China’s first counterterror chief Liu Yuejin receives suspended death sentence

23 Jun 2025 - 7:50PM

China’s Communist Party

As I see it | Why Grace Meng’s injustice claims won’t spark a Peng Shuai-style outcry

26 Nov 2021 - 10:30AM

China’s nominee to Interpol committee opposed by lawmakers from 20 countries

Electing Hu Binchen would endorse misuse of the police body, endangering Hong Kong, Uygur, Tibetan, Taiwanese and Chinese dissidents, they say in letter.

15 Nov 2021 - 9:55PMvideocam

China has been accused of using Interpol red notices to repatriate exiled dissidents. Photo: AFP

Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign

China’s anti-graft body lays bare ex-Interpol chief’s ‘decadent’ lifestyle

A document circulated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection accuses the former Interpol president of using military officers as his personal servants.

7 Jul 2020 - 10:58PMvideocam

Corruption in China

China’s ex-Interpol president Meng Hongwei jailed for 13½ years for corruption

Country’s first head of global policing agency abused his previous positions in China to receive US$2 million in bribes between 2005 and 2017, Chinese court rules.

17 Feb 2020 - 2:48PMvideocam

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Exclusive | Wife of ex-Interpol chief sues agency, accuses it of ‘complicity with China’

In lawsuit filed with the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Grace Meng asserts the global policing body threatened her if she spoke out.

7 Jul 2019 - 10:43PM

A 2018 photo of Grace Meng, the wife of the disgraced former Interpol President Meng Hongwei, who did not want her face shown. She has filed a lawsuit against Interpol. Photo: AP

Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei admits taking US$2 million in bribes

The ex-chief of the global policing body faces trial in northern China after last being seen in France in September.

20 Jun 2019 - 11:43PM

Hong Kong police

Beijing confirms nomination of ex-Hong Kong police chief to lead UN agency

The nomination is China’s first attempt to fill a top position at a major international body since it detained Meng Hongwei, then head of Interpol, last year.

5 Jun 2019 - 11:32PM

Exclusive | Man who oversaw Occupy teargassing should have top UN crime job: Beijing

The nomination of Andy Tsang is Beijing’s first attempt to fill a top position at a major international organisation since it arrested Interpol chief Meng Hongwei.

5 Jun 2019 - 4:26PM

Andy Tsang in May 2015. Photo: SCMP

France grants asylum to wife of ex-Interpol chief detained in China

Grace Meng’s lawyers argue she would be in danger in China after criticising authorities for the handling of her husband Meng Hongwei’s case.

16 May 2019 - 9:55AM

Grace Meng, who does not want her face shown, looks at her mobile phone in the lobby of a hotel in Lyon, France, in October. Photo: AP

Corruption in China

Chinese ex-Interpol chief Meng Hongwei to face trial in Tianjin

Official accused of taking ‘huge amounts of bribes’, Supreme People’s Procuratorate says on conclusion of its investigation.

10 May 2019 - 10:18PM

China’s former Interpol president arrested on bribery charge

Meng disappeared after returning to China from France last year and later sent his wife a message suggesting he was in some kind of danger.

24 Apr 2019 - 7:09PM

Wife of Meng Hongwei, Interpol ex-chief, slams China detention as ‘political’

Grace Meng blasted a statement by China’s anti-corruption watchdog, which said Meng Hongwei had spent ‘lavish’ amounts of state funds and abused his power. Speaking from France, she said the CCDI had made ‘vague, general, uncorroborated statements’ about her husband.

24 Apr 2019 - 5:09PM

In this July 4, 2017 file photo, then Interpol president Meng Hongwei walks on stage to deliver his opening address at the Interpol World Congress in Singapore. Photo: AP

Emmanuel Macron

Wife of vanished Interpol chief urges Macron to raise case with Xi

Xi Jinping will make a state visit to Paris on Monday, where he will meet the French president.

24 Apr 2019 - 5:14PM

Interpol President Meng Hongwei delivers his opening address at the Interpol World congress, in Singapore. Photo: AP Photo

Ex-Interpol chief expelled from China’s top policy advisory body

Meng Hongwei’s wife claims her husband is target of ‘political persecution’.

30 Nov 2018 - 4:09PM

Interpol ‘not allowed’ to investigate missing Chinese official

Secretary general Juergen Stock says there was ‘no reason for me to [suspect] anything was forced or wrong’ about Meng Hongwei’s resignation letter.

9 Nov 2018 - 5:08PM

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Interpol chief’s wife: ‘Everybody in China is at risk’

Grace Meng told of her ‘hate’ for Chinese officials who had detained Meng Hongwei, saying she refused to meet them alone and calling her husband a victim of political persecution

20 Oct 2018 - 8:32PM

Move against Interpol chief completes change of guard for China’s police

15 Oct 2018 - 2:57PMvideocam

China Briefing | China’s detention of ex-Interpol chief highlights its flaws

It would have been simple for China to minimise the negative reaction to Meng Hongwei’s arrest, but the way the case was handled has destroyed the international community’s confidence in its leadership of global bodies

15 Oct 2018 - 2:58PMvideocam

Corruption in China

China ‘unaware’ of alleged threats against ex-Interpol chief’s wife

11 Oct 2018 - 8:31PMvideocam

China has denied any knowledge of the alleged threats received by Grace Meng, wife of detained former Interpol president Meng Hongwei. Photo: AP

Meng Hongwei case serves as a reminder

The detention in a bribery probe of the first Chinese to be president of Interpol underlines the importance of due diligence when appointing people to top jobs.

10 Oct 2018 - 9:41PM

Meng Hongwei’s detention comes at a cost to the confidence of international partners. Photo: AFP

Ex-Interpol chief ‘was never close’ to disgraced former security tsar

10 Oct 2018 - 2:44PMvideocam

The spectacular rise and fall of China’s Interpol chief Meng Hongwei

9 Oct 2018 - 2:59PMvideocam

Which Chinese hold top jobs at key international bodies?

8 Oct 2018 - 11:14PMvideocam

Liu Fang has been head of the International Civil Aviation Organisation since 2015. Photo: Xinhua

Meng Hongwei case ‘hits confidence in Chinese leading global bodies’

9 Oct 2018 - 3:17PMvideocam

Meng Hongwei was reported missing after travelling to China. Photo: AP

China accuses former Interpol chief of taking bribes

8 Oct 2018 - 11:32PMvideocam

Corruption in China

China confirms detention of former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei

Chinese head of Interpol under investigation for possible criminal activity, China announced late on Sunday, as world police organisation said he had resigned.

8 Oct 2018 - 9:04PMvideocam

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