China removes Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong from position

Chinese Diplomat Sun Weidong Removed from Post Amid Anticorruption Campaign

A senior Chinese diplomat, Sun Weidong, has been dismissed from his position as vice minister of foreign affairs, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Human Resources on Tuesday. The announcement cited a decision made by the State Council, China’s highest governing body.

Details about Sun’s dismissal are not provided in the statement. However, records show that his last public engagement was on March 13, when he met with ambassadors from Brunei and Malaysia to China. Two days prior, Sun had also met with Pakistan’s ambassador to China to discuss bilateral cooperation.

The removal of high-ranking officials is a common occurrence in the Chinese government during anticorruption campaigns. Such dismissals are often followed by news of investigations into the affected individuals. In this case, Sun’s dismissal notice includes the removal of another official, An Lusheng, from his post as deputy director of the National Railway Administration.

Since taking office in 2012, President Xi Jinping has led a comprehensive anticorruption campaign targeting both high- and low-ranking officials. According to recent reports, China investigated over one million corruption cases last year and disciplined nearly 938,000 individuals. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Supervisory Commission reported that the campaign resulted in disciplinary action against 69 provincial or ministerial-level officials, 4,155 bureau-level officials, 35,000 county-level officials, and 125,000 township-level officials.

Source: Al Jazeera