China’s Former Counterterrorism Chief Sentenced to Death

.

Liu Yuejin, China’s former counterterrorism commissioner, has been sentenced to death with a two-year suspension on corruption charges.

On June 23, a court in the southeastern province of Fujian handed down the sentence, also ordering the confiscation of all Liu’s personal assets.

Chinese authorities claimed that Liu abused his positions of power between 1992 and 2020—including his role as director of the Narcotics Control Bureau at the Ministry of Public Security—to help individuals and entities with business operations and loans. In return, he allegedly accepted payments of more than 121 million yuan, or about $16.7 million.

Liu was placed under investigation in March 2024, four years after stepping down as the Chinese regime’s first counterterrorism commissioner at the vice-ministerial level. That September, officials announced a formal list of charges against him, including “disloyalty to the Party,” resisting investigation, illegally retaining classified documents, abuse of power, and bribery.

He was also expelled from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a severe penalty that typically marks the end of one’s political career and the loss of political protection of the Party, leaving them fully subject to the regular judicial system.

Liu was considered a close ally of Meng. In 2010, then-Minister of Public Security Meng promoted him to director of the Narcotics Control Bureau, a post he held for four years.

Liu’s most prominent moment came in 2011, when he led a high-profile crackdown on a drug trafficking gang responsible for the killing of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River, a case that significantly boosted his standing within the security apparatus.

For the CCP, the international arrest and extradition of foreign drug traffickers for trial in China was a milestone showcasing the regime’s expanding global reach. In 2016, the Ministry of Public Security sponsored the production of the film “Operation Mekong,” an action thriller that glorifies the Chinese regime’s police force, with Liu serving as a chief consultant. The film became a box office hit upon release and has since been considered a standout example of the CCP’s so-called main melody propaganda cinema.

In 2015, Liu was appointed the counterterrorism czar, a role that charged him with tightening Beijing’s grip over the far-western region of Xinjiang. The region shares a narrow border with Afghanistan—one of the world’s largest producers of opium, fueling concerns among CCP officials that drug traffickers and separatists could join forces and drug money to fund activities aimed at undermining the regime’s control.

Liu’s oversight of counterterrorism efforts coincided with mounting international scrutiny of the human rights situation in Xinjiang, particularly the mass detention of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in so-called reeducation camps. Survivors of the camps have described experiencing forced labor, forced sterilizations, political indoctrination, and other abuses during their time in detention, according to human rights groups.