Liu Jianchao, head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China. Yonhap News. 

A senior Chinese official, widely seen as the likely next foreign minister, has been detained and is under investigation by Chinese authorities, the U.S. daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 9th (local time), citing anonymous sources.

According to the report, Liu Jianchao, 61, head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, was taken into custody after returning to Beijing from an overseas trip late last month. The reason for his detention has not yet been confirmed.

Liu is a minister-level official with a long career in China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2022, he has been in charge of relations with foreign political parties and socialist countries.

Prior to his detention, Liu had officially visited Singapore, South Africa, and Algeria in his capacity as head of the International Liaison Department.

Liu had also visited Washington and New York in the United States last year, and there was an atmosphere among those in the U.S. who considered him the next foreign minister, the WSJ reported.

"China was essentially telling us that he would be the next foreign minister," one U.S. official said.

U.S. officials who met with him praised his serious remarks on the need for stable U.S.-China relations, and some attendees recalled that he showed an attitude of carefully considering and addressing U.S. concerns about Chinese policies, including crackdowns on Western companies assessing investment risks in China.

During his visit, Liu interacted with think tanks like the Asia Society, Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, and Biden administration officials including Secretary of State Tony Blinken.

However, the Communist Party of China was displeased with Liu's actions, the WSJ reported. They reportedly considered it inappropriate for him to present himself as the next foreign minister before officially receiving the title.

Although the charges against Liu have not been disclosed, his detention may be related to the personnel style of Chinese President Xi Jinping, 72, the ongoing disciplinary cleanup campaign by the disciplinary authorities under Xi's command, and internal investigations.

Party disciplinary bodies have intensified their surveillance of officials citing national security concerns, and a number of high-ranking officials have been punished on charges of corruption, incompetence, and leaking state secrets.

Sources familiar with China's foreign policy expressed concern that Xi's increasing emphasis on "political loyalty" in appointing public officials could weaken the professionalism of Chinese diplomacy with Liu's absence.

Liu's detention is the highest-profile case involving a diplomat since China abruptly dismissed its then-foreign minister, Qin Gang, 59, in 2023.

China did not disclose the reasons for Qin's dismissal, but the WSJ had previously reported that he had an affair during his tenure as China's ambassador to Washington.

Following Qin's dismissal, Liu was considered a strong candidate for foreign minister, but the party appointed Wang Yi, 71, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission, who previously served as foreign minister, to concurrently hold the position of foreign minister.

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