Senior Chinese diplomat Liu Jianchao detained: Report

Liu Jianchao, a senior Chinese diplomat heading the overseas relations division of the ruling Communist Party, has been detained for questioning, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday (August 10, 2025).

The 61-year-old senior diplomat was taken away for questioning in late July after returning to Beijing from an abroad work journey, the paper reported, quoting individuals acquainted with the matter.

There is, nevertheless, no official affirmation of his detention but.

Mr. Liu, the Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC), is considered the potential future overseas minister and shares shut ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Mr. Liu led a CPC delegation that attended the Liberation Movements Summit in South Africa on July 28, in line with the official media right here.

The information of Mr. Liu’s detention, coming forward of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held in China’s Tianjin metropolis later this month, despatched shock waves throughout the Chinese official and diplomatic circles.

The summit of the 10-member SCO is scheduled to happen from August 31 to September 1.

As a Minister of the International Department of the CPC, Mr. Liu wielded appreciable affect over China’s overseas coverage, although Wang Yi is the Foreign Minister.

Mr. Liu was one of many prime officers whom External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met throughout his go to to Beijing on July 14 and mentioned the progress of the normalisation of relations after final yr’s assembly between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Xi in Russia, ending the over four-year freeze in ties as a result of navy standoff in japanese Ladakh.

The official web site of the CPC International Department nonetheless has Mr. Liu’s images and the statements of his conferences with numerous worldwide dignitaries.

In 2023, the then-foreign minister Qin Gang was ousted. Mr. Qin, too, was considered Mr. Xi’s protégé. The causes for Mr. Qin’s elimination weren’t made public.

After Mr. Qin’s elimination, Wang, who’s at present a member of the highly effective Political Bureau of the CPC and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, was made the Foreign Minister, a submit he relinquished to facilitate Mr. Qin’s elevation.

Hailing from the Chinese province of Jilin, Mr. Liu studied worldwide relations at Oxford University and later joined the Chinese overseas ministry, the place he served in numerous capacities, together with as its spokesman.

He additionally served in CPC’s Central Discipline Commission (CDS), which investigated 1000’s of officers for corruption and indiscipline since Mr. Xi took over as chief of the social gathering in 2012.

The officers indicted by the CDS included two Defence Ministers, apart from scores of generals of the Chinese navy.