China investigates retired senior diplomat for corruption

Cao Baijun, a former manager in the Chinese Communist Party's International Liaison Department, is under investigation for corruption.

Mr. Cao Bach Tuan. Photo: SCMP.

Cao Baijun is under investigation for “severe violations of party discipline,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement on December 17, the South China Morning Post reported. The phrase is often used to refer to corruption in China. The investigation into Cao comes five years after he retired.

Mr. Cao, 63, was the head of two departments of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee (ID), promoting cooperation between China and Western Europe and Africa. The ID is the agency that deals with relations with foreign political parties.

From 2008 to 2012, Mr. Cao was in charge of liaison with political parties in Sub-Saharan Africa. He later worked as an advisor to a steel company based in Guangdong. His last public appearance was on August 8 at an economic event.

Cao Baijun is a native of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and is said to be fluent in German and English. He graduated from the Shanghai Foreign Language Institute in 1975, now Shanghai International Studies University. Cao joined ID in 1975, specializing in German-speaking countries.

After graduating from Heidelberg University in Germany, he returned to China in 1985 and was promoted to head of the agency's German language section. He was the main interpreter when German politicians visited China. After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1992, he took on the position of director of the Western European section, then head of the African section.

Cao is the second senior diplomat to be investigated for corruption in the "anti-tiger and anti-fly" campaign launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2012. Earlier this year, the CCDI forced Zhang Kunsheng to resign as assistant foreign minister. Zhang is under investigation for similar charges to Cao.

According to VNE