Each year, China detains hundreds of thousands of its own officials in solitary, incommunicado confinement, denying them legal representation in a practice referred to as “liuzhi,” according to rights groups based outside the country.
The liuzhi system, meaning “retention in custody,” is managed by the Communist Party’s disciplinary body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).
It allows party investigators to “forcefully disappear, arbitrarily detain and torture individuals for up to six months,” the Spain-based rights group Safeguard Defenders said in a March 3 report.
The liuzhi system is a key component of the Communist Party’s internal investigation process. This means that anyone working in state or party institutions—ranging from school administrators and hospital managers to executives at state-owned enterprises—can be subjected to disappearance through this method. Even private business owners with close ties to government officials have been caught up in the liuzhi system, according to a CNN investigation.
Former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who has disappeared from public view, may be a victim of the liuzhi system. Qin, 57, was last seen meeting with the foreign ministers of Sri Lanka and Vietnam, as well as the Russian deputy foreign minister, in Beijing on June 25, 2023. Additionally, Beijing has not provided any clarity on the fate of former Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who was dismissed from his position on October 24, 2023, with no explanation, despite widespread media and social media speculation about his disappearance.
