Ex-Interpol Boss Meng Hongwei Admits Graft: Report

Former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei pleaded guilty at a trial in Tianjin on Thursday to accepting US$2.1 million in bribes – a remarkable fall from grace for the former vice minister of public security.

Meng "showed repentance" during the hearing, said the Tianjin No.1 Intermediate People's Court.

The verdict will be announced at a "select date or time", it added in a statement on Weibo.

Meng is among a growing group of Communist Party cadres caught in President Xi Jinping's anti-graft campaign, which critics say has served as a way to remove the leader's political enemies.

He vanished last September during a visit to China from France, where Interpol is based, and was later accused of accepting bribes and expelled from the Communist Party.

In May, his wife Grace Meng was granted political asylum in France, after saying she was afraid she and her two children would be the targets of kidnapping attempts.

Meng was the first Chinese citizen to be given a top international investigative agency post.

Former Hong Kong police chief Andy Tsang was recently put forward by Beijing for two senior UN positions, including head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (Additional reporting by AFP)