Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will not travel to the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Indonesia this week. China is expected to send senior diplomat Wang Yi to replace him amid rumors circulating about Qin Gang’s health, who has not been seen in public for more than two weeks.
Reuters cited three anonymous sources who confirmed that Wang Yi, a member of the Politburo and director of the Communist Party of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Committee, had been involved. will travel to meet with ASEAN foreign ministers in Jakarta
The 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, ahead of the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum with Dialogue Partners on Friday, July 14.
Qin, 57, took over as China’s foreign minister from Wang Yi in December and made his last media appearance in Beijing on June 25 after meeting with officials from Sri Lanka, Russia and Vietnam
Although the Chinese foreign ministry has not offered an explanation of Qin Gang’s disappearance, the matter is catching the eye.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin Qin was questioned about an article on US news site Politico, which noted Qin may be gravely ill, but spokesman Wang replied simply: “I have never heard of this report.”
Qin Gang was scheduled to meet with European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell in Beijing last week. But it appears that the Chinese government has requested to postpone the talks. Claiming that the said date was “inconvenient”
The source also said that China canceled the meeting just two days before Borell’s scheduled July 5 visit to Beijing.
source: Reuters
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2023-07-11 06:09:00
