DHAKA: Chinese assistant foreign minister Zhang Kunsheng has been removed from his position and is being probed for “violating discipline”, reports BBC.

Quoting “State media” of China, BBC said, “Zhang as the highest-ranking diplomat to be targeted in the anti-corruption drive.”

The anti-corruption campaign has netted thousands of officials since it began in 2012, including former security chief Zhou Yongkang in 2014 as President Xi Jinping has vowed to eradicate corruption in China.

The foreign ministry said Zhang was “suspected of violating discipline”, an official euphemism for corruption.

Zhang Kunsheng, from central Shanxi province, ranks the first out of four assistant foreign ministers. His last public appearance was at a speech he gave at a regional forum in December.

Local media said that the investigation into Zhang was suspected to be related to the recent downfall of former senior presidential aide Ling Jihua.

The ministry’s website also showed Zhang’s role as head of the ministry’s protocol department, which oversees diplomatic ceremonies, as being taken over by ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

China’s foreign ministry was also implicated in another scandal last year, when its ambassador to Iceland vanished amid reports that he had been arrested for selling state secrets to Japan.

BDS: 1912 HRS, JAN 02, 2015