The Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) official, Sun Haiyan, was reportedly detained on Friday (15th) but appeared in Beijing later that night. Meanwhile, MFA Minister Liu Jianchao has been “missing” for half a month since being reported to have been investigated.
According to the official website of the Chinese MFA, on August 15th, Sun Haiyan, the deputy minister of the Chinese MFA, met with the Indian Ambassador to Beijing, Vikram Rout, in Beijing, and was invited to attend the Indian Embassy’s reception celebrating Indian Independence Day.
The report also included high-definition photos of Sun Haiyan with the Indian Ambassador.
Earlier on Friday, Reuters cited three unnamed sources in an exclusive report saying that Sun Haiyan was also detained in early August, a move possibly related to Liu Jianchao. Sun Haiyan’s most recent public appearance was on July 31st when she attended a political party event in Russia. Later that day, the Singapore-based “Straits Times” pointed out that “from two sources, Sun Haiyan is currently working normally, and the news of her being detained is not true.”
The MFA’s website seemed to proactively debunk the rumors.
Reuters also reported on Sun Haiyan’s appearance on the 16th. The report stated that when asked by Reuters at the event, Sun Haiyan did not directly comment on whether the authorities had detained or questioned her, saying only, “Well, I’m here.” She described Reuters’ reporting as “irresponsible.”
On the 16th, the “Straits Times” reported that according to two sources, the narrative of Sun Haiyan being detained is false, and she has been working normally these days.
The report pointed out that within the Chinese Communist system, when a member of a leadership team encounters issues, it is customary for other members of the team to be questioned and asked to clarify their stance. However, such inquiries generally take place within the department, and being taken away is somewhat unusual.
Before serving as the deputy minister of the MFA, Sun Haiyan, 53, served as the Chinese Ambassador to Singapore from 2022 to 2023.
The “Wall Street Journal” reported on August 9th that Liu Jianchao was taken away for questioning by authorities upon returning to Beijing at the end of his overseas visit at the end of July, but the reasons remain unclear.
As of now, on the leadership page of the MFA website, Liu Jianchao is still listed as the MFA Minister, and Sun Haiyan as the deputy minister. Liu Jianchao’s meeting with Chennouf, the monitoring chief of the National Democratic Rally of Algeria in Algiers on July 29th, is still visible on the MFA website, but there have been no public activity updates from him this month. Netizens on overseas social media platforms are actively discussing, “It seems that Liu Jianchao has indeed encountered some troubles.”