North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited China last week to attend the “9.3 Military Parade”. All matters related to North Korea are handled by the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Previous visits by Kim Jong-un were accompanied by the then Minister of the International Liaison Department, Song Tao. However, the current Minister, Liu Jianchao, has been “missing” for a month. This time, it was Deputy Minister Li Mingxiang who accompanied Xi Jinping to meet Kim Jong-un, drawing attention from the public.
Li Mingxiang, 56, has been working at the International Liaison Department for a long time, serving as Deputy Director of the Seventh Bureau, Director of the Cadre Bureau, and promoted to Deputy Minister in December 2022. He is also a representative of the CCP’s 20th Congress.
Apart from Kim Jong-un, other attendees at the 9.3 Military Parade included the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of Cuba, Diaz, the General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party and President of Laos, Thongloun, and the President of Vietnam, Le Trong.
The International Liaison Department is the functional department of the CCP Central Committee responsible for external relations, mainly engaging in party diplomacy.
According to a commentary article in the Hong Kong media “Sing Tao Daily” by Jixiaohua, Le Trong’s visit to China was not in his party capacity, therefore received by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and there were no senior officials from the International Liaison Department present when Xi Jinping met with him. However, Deputy Minister Li Mingxiang of the International Liaison Department did attend when Xi Jinping separately met with leaders from Cuba and Laos.
The article suggests that the signs indicate Li Mingxiang has been overseeing the daily work of the International Liaison Department and acting on behalf of the Minister’s authority.
However, the article also points out that it is premature to conclude that Li Mingxiang will become the Minister of the International Liaison Department, as the position of Minister Liu Jianchao has not been officially removed, and there has been no public statement from the authorities regarding his situation.
As of now, the leadership section of the International Liaison Department’s website still shows Liu Jianchao as the Minister. However, there have been no updates on Liu Jianchao’s activities since July 30, and he has been out of the public eye for over a month.
Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported that Liu Jianchao, 61, was taken away for questioning by the authorities shortly after returning from visits to Singapore, South Africa, and Algeria on July 30 and his residence was searched in early August.
There has been no official confirmation from the CCP about the investigation into Liu Jianchao.
Liu Jianchao previously served as the spokesperson for the CCP’s International Department, an ambassador abroad, and in 2015 was appointed as the Director of the International Cooperation Bureau of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), becoming a key figure in Xi Jinping’s transnational anti-corruption campaign known as the “Fox Hunt Operation”. In 2017, he was tasked with establishing the provincial-level CCDI in Zhejiang Province and became a member of the Provincial Committee and Secretary of the CCDI. He returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2018 and was appointed Minister of the International Liaison Department in May 2022.
After Qin Gang was removed from office, Wang Yi, a member of the CCP’s Politburo and Director of the Foreign Affairs Office, returned to serve as Foreign Minister. Liu Jianchao was seen as a popular candidate to succeed Wang Yi as Foreign Minister before the Two Sessions this year, but ultimately did not get the position.
On overseas social media platforms, netizens are actively discussing the situation, speculating that “Liu Jianchao does seem to be in trouble”.