File photo: On March 5, 2021, the day before the opening of China‘s National People‘s Congress (NPC), police patrol Tiananmen Square with dogs on a day of heavy air pollution in Beijing. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images.)
[People News] On August 8, reports circulated on X that Liu Jianchao, head of the CCP’s International Liaison Department, had been detained. Late on August 9, The Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources, revealed that Liu was taken away after returning to Beijing in late July from overseas assignments.
The ILD’s official website still lists Liu as minister. The WSJ’s August 9 report said attempts to contact Liu were unsuccessful, and neither the ILD nor the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection responded to inquiries about the rumours. The Chinese Foreign Ministry also gave no immediate comment when asked. AFP and Reuters both sent inquiries to the Foreign Ministry, but likewise received no prompt reply.
According to informed sources cited in the report, the reason Liu was taken in for questioning is unclear. The WSJ also quoted people close to Beijing’s foreign policy apparatus as saying Liu’s absence could weaken China’s diplomatic expertise.
Online rumours on August 8 claimed Liu’s detention might be related to a leak of sensitive information, while others suggested he had been involved in helping wealthy Chinese transfer assets overseas.
According to the ILD’s official postings, in late July, Liu visited Singapore, South Africa, and Algeria as minister. Based on news footage from “Badi China-Arab TV,” his last public appearance was on July 30 in Algeria, meeting with the head of that country’s National Institute for Global Strategic Studies, Mujahid.
Since the removal of Qin Gang as foreign minister in July 2023, Liu Jianchao is the highest-ranking CCP diplomat to come under investigation. After Qin’s dismissal, Liu’s experience and seniority within China’s diplomatic system made him widely seen as the top candidate to become foreign minister.
In 2015, Liu was unexpectedly appointed head of the Office of International Fugitive Pursuit and Asset Recovery under the Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group and director of the CCDI’s International Cooperation Bureau. Commentators noted he became a key figure in Xi Jinping’s “Fox Hunt” campaign to capture corrupt fugitives overseas.
In 2018, Liu returned to the diplomatic arena as deputy director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission, a body directly led by Xi and responsible for guiding China’s foreign policy.
In 2022, Liu was promoted to head the International Liaison Department and was later elevated to a member of the 20th Central Committee. Reports noted Liu travelled abroad more frequently than his predecessors, including visits to the U.S. and other Western democracies — countries ILD ministers traditionally avoided.
In early 2024, during a U.S. visit, Liu gave a striking speech on the need to stabilise U.S.–China relations, winning considerable praise. The WSJ previously reported that a U.S. official at the time said: “The Chinese basically told us he was going to be the next foreign minister;” they added, “He’s aiming for bigger things.”
Given this résumé, outside observers viewed Liu as a trusted appointee of Xi Jinping.
The detention rumours come during the CCP’s summer retreat at Beidaihe, a period when speculation is rife over whether Xi’s position will be decided and key personnel moves for the Fourth Plenum and even the 21st Party Congress will be set. At such a sensitive moment, reports of Liu’s detention suggest intense infighting at Beidaihe, with anti-Xi and pro-Xi factions locked in fierce confrontation.
On August 4, a mass protest in Jiangyou, Sichuan, saw angry citizens shouting slogans such as “Down with the Communist Party” and “Down with Xi Jinping.” It is said the incident reached Beidaihe, enraging Xi. Du Wen, former executive director of the Legal Advisory Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region government, revealed that CCP elders and top leaders might seize on this to challenge Xi’s governance ability and political course. Xi’s personnel plans and long-term rule ambitions could face a serious blow.
Analysts note that amid such high-stakes factional struggle, the reported investigation of one of Xi’s key confidants further confirms that his position is under threat — and that the Beidaihe political drama of party elders pressuring Xi is in full swing. △
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