BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party on Tuesday (Sep 30) unexpectedly appointed a new head of its influential international department, which manages relations with foreign political parties, replacing Liu Jianchao, who is reportedly under disciplinary investigations.
Liu Haixing, 62, formerly director of the foreign ministry’s European department, replaced Liu Jianchao, 61, as head of the party’s international department.
Liu Haixing previously served as a senior director of a powerful party commission overseeing national security. He had studied in Paris in the 1980s.
The whereabouts of Liu Jianchao, who has vanished from the public eye over the last two months, were not clear.
Liu Jianchao was detained after returning from a work trip to Singapore, South Africa and Algeria, which ended on Jul 30, sources previously told Reuters.
The party’s international department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for information on Liu Jianchao.
There are no details on whether the two Lius are related.
Liu Jianchao was widely seen as a potential foreign minister candidate.
Born in the northeastern province of Jilin, Liu Jianchao majored in English at Beijing Foreign Studies University and studied international relations at Oxford before taking up his first post as a translator with the foreign ministry.
He has served in China’s mission to Britain and later as ambassador to Indonesia and the Philippines.
During his time as ministry spokesman, he was known for humorous off-the-cuff comments while making a no-nonsense defence of China’s interests.
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