Interpol has told Euronews that they have officially requested clarification from China on the whereabouts of its President Meng Hongwei.
"Interpol has requested through official law enforcement channels clarification from China's authorities on the status of Interpol President Meng Hongwei. Interpol's General Secretariat is looking forward to an official response from China's authorities to address concerns over the President's well-being," the international policing body announced on Saturday.
The wife and children of the missing Interpol president had been placed under special protection by French police after she received threats by phone and via social media, the French Interior Ministry stated on Saturday, adding that they continued to exchange information with Chinese authorities over Meng's disappearance.
The 64-year-old official's wife, who resides in France's Lyon where Interpol is headquartered, reported her husband missing on Friday, having not heard from him since 25 September when he traveled from France to his native China.
A source familiar with the investigation told Reuters the working assumption was that Meng, who also serves as the Chinese deputy public security minister, had been detained as a result of a confrontation with Beijing authorities.
This partly confirms the suspicions of the Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP), which reported on Friday that the official is under investigation in China. According to the SCMP, Meng was taken for interrogation soon after landing in China a week ago.
Interpol has previously made it clear that it has been knowledgeable of the disappearance of the official. The organization also commented on Meng's disappearance, stressing that the whereabouts of the Interpol official was "a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China."