Yet another mysterious disappearance. This time in Beijing. Interpol chief Meng Hongwei went missing. After leaving France two weeks ago, he couldn't be contacted with. He was finally found this week, in his homeland, China, under arrest. Now, ex-chief of the International Criminal Police Organization has been suspected of bribery.
Our special reporter Anastasia Sakhovskaya with the details from Beijing.
Foothills somewhere around 30 kilometers from Beijing. There are no further coordinates. Guarded checkpoint with a Chinese arch, solid stone fence, there are no signs, but there is no barbed wire, either. Jincheng Prison is listed in the top of the most secure prisons in the world. Memoirs of former prisoners are one of the few sources of information. Hong Kong press published extracts.
“The chamber was six steps long and three steps wide. Small barred window. A wooden bed, a peephole on the iron door for the guards to keep watch. Meals consisted of thin porridge and soup usually without any meat and butter, and coarse cornbread.”
According to the same media, the former head of the special services Zhou Yongkang, maybe Bo Xilai, former Minister of Commerce are kept here serving a life sentence for corruption. Closed doors, but open information — China doesn't just talk openly about the problem of corruption but acts decisively. The arrest of the ex-head of Interpol is a new round in this uncompromising fight.
Lu Kang, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson: "No one should try to justify their criminal actions by slandering and distorting achievements of the central government in its anti-corruption campaign".
He texted his wife "wait for my call", sent a knife emoji, did Hongwei know about his arrest? An international-level official. It was thought these were not to be touched, but it turned out that there were no untouchables. His appointment to Interpol was a great political victory for China. If the country has taken such measures, experts suggest, the case may be more more severe than breaking the law and bribes, which Hongwei is now accused of.
Alexei Maslov, Orientalists, Professor, Ph.D. in History: "Of course, China went on enormous image losses, but, on the other hand, if we look at the reaction, it turns out that China did everything right. Because, by shooting itself in the foot, China made it so that everyone began to say, yes, we are not talking about the fact that someone dislikes someone, but about the fact that China is really pursuing a new policy in relation to its own officials".
Among his comrades, Meng Hongwei was considered committed to the party. He's got caught on what he was supposed to fight with. China has special ties with Interpol to return fugitive corrupt officials. More than 2500 embezzlers have been returned already. They tried to hide in 90 countries. This operation is called the Heavenly Network, and the fugitives are called foxes.
“Fire at everyone” — from “flies” — officials of lower ranks — to “tigers” — top party members from the Central Committee, is the slogan of the campaign launched by Xi Jinping. He called corruption China's number one enemy.
As the campaign goes on at all levels, corruption cases are observed by different instances. Cases of "tigers" — by Supreme People’s Court, "flies" — by provincial and municipal ones. This building, for instance, belongs to the Beijing City Court. Statistics say, in 5 years 263,000 people were in the dock. More than 100 officials held very high positions. In the case of Zhou Yongkang alone, there were bribes worth more than 21 million dollars. Ex-Minister of Public Security, "king of intelligence" and, by the way, the former head of the arrested head of Interpol.
Another famous case is the trial of Sun Zhengcai and Bo Xilai, who were expected to be successors to the current leadership. More than 100 officials were arrested during the investigation.
Alexei Maslov: "Many said that this was pure politics, they purposely eliminated competitors. After 3-4 months, when all the facts surfaced, all the schemes were shown how the money was really stolen, the real approval of the people began towards the activities of the Chinese court and police".
Shooting as the highest measure: the sentences used to be carried out in public. The punishment is still in place but is clearly determined now. The bribe has to be more than 500,000 dollars, but they often replace the death penalty with a life sentence.
The campaign of wrapping up red carpets has begun. This is the fight against functionaries' addiction to luxury. The code of the officials, which is also called the "8 rules", prohibits the use of official vehicles for personal purposes, unreasonable trips abroad, gifts and royalties, hotels and banquets at the public's expense. Government official expenses were reduced to a minimum. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the daily earnings of expensive restaurants in Beijing only, immediately fell by a third. Visitors began to order twice as less expensive dishes like swallow nests or shark fins soups, abalones.
One of the restaurants popular among the Chinese party elite used to be here. It still is in the local search engine. There used to be the entrance. You can even see what the interiors looked like. It was still open earlier this year, but now, it's obviously closed. That was the last restaurant in the franchise.
Xi Jinping himself set a personal example by setting up a four-course, one-soup banquet practice. The recent party congress was distinguished by its strict asceticism. They even began to buy fewer flowers, every meeting used to be decorated with gigantic compositions. Modesty and hard work are new benchmarks for Chinese officials.
Alexei Maslov: "I see how the credibility of the party, which was considered to be the overprivileged category of officials is being restored now. Today, party officials have changed. These are lean, fast-thinking people who really solve problems, instead of just sitting around".
The villa of the former head of the Justice Department of the Chinese metropolis of Chongqing has been turned into an anti-corruption museum. China Daily reports about "prison tours", where officials can see their colleagues convicted of corruption. A Beijing newspaper, using face recognition apps, measured the age of Chinese bribe takers. Photos before and after the arrest show that corrupt officials immediately grow older by two decades. They are to face consequences.
Anastasia Sakhovskaya, Mikhail Artyuhin, Tatiana Koroleva, Vesti, Beijing, China.
