US formally invites new Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to Washington
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China reappointed veteran diplomat Wang Yi as foreign minister after his predecessor was abruptly removed from his post by Beijing.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - The United States has formally invited China’s newly reappointed Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Washington, the US State Department said on Tuesday, after Mr Wang’s predecessor was abruptly removed from his post by Beijing.
China reappointed the veteran diplomat, Mr Wang, as foreign minister
The Foreign Ministry has only said Mr Qin was off work for unspecified health reasons.
The invitation to Mr Wang was extended on Monday during a meeting at the State Department between US Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and Mr Yang Tao, director-general of North American and Oceanian affairs at China’s Foreign Ministry, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told a press briefing.
“In the meeting yesterday, we extended the invitation that had previously been made to foreign minister Qin Gang and made clear that invitation did transfer over,” Mr Miller said.
He did not say if the Chinese side had accepted the invitation but added that this was Washington’s expectation.
“We certainly expect that it is something that they would accept and is a trip that we expect to happen, but we have not yet scheduled a date,” Mr Miller said.
A spokesman for China’s Washington embassy said that in the “consultation” with Mr Kritenbrink, the two sides had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges of views on China-US relations as well as global and regional issues of mutual interest”.
“Concerning the high-level exchanges, both sides have maintained necessary communication,” the spokesman added.
A US readout of the discussion called it “candid, substantive, and productive” and “part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the bilateral relationship”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Mr Qin on June 18, in the first visit by America’s top diplomat to China in five years.
Mr Qin, 57, a former aide to Chinese President Xi Jinping and envoy to the US, took over the ministry in December but has not been seen in public since June 25 when he met visiting diplomats in Beijing.
The Foreign Ministry’s brief explanation that this was due to health reasons was later excised from official transcripts.
Mr Blinken subsequently met Mr Wang on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Jakarta in Mr Qin’s absence.
Mr Wang, 69, served as foreign minister from 2013 to 2022 as ties frayed with the US to a point Beijing described as an all-time low. REUTERS
