China's top diplomat in Singapore on visit
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Politburo member Yang Jiechi is here on a two-day visit at the invitation of the Singapore Government. He will leave for Busan tomorrow.
Tan Dawn Wei China Bureau Chief In Beijing, Tan Dawn Wei
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China's top diplomat is on a visit to Singapore and South Korea in what could be viewed as a bid by the nation to strengthen ties with its Asian neighbours amid deteriorating relations with the United States.
Mr Yang Jiechi, a member of China's powerful Politburo and head of the Chinese Communist Party's foreign affairs office, is in Singapore on a two-day visit ending today at the invitation of the Singapore Government, said the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
He will call on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, said Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean will also host him to lunch, while Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan will host breakfast.
Mr Yang will travel to Busan tomorrow and hold talks with South Korea's new national security adviser Suh Hoon on Saturday.
The talks will centre on Covid-19 response cooperation, bilateral relations and the situation in the Korean peninsula, said a South Korean presidential office spokesman.
The two sides will also discuss President Xi Jinping's planned visit to South Korea, which had been shelved because of the pandemic. President Xi was last there in 2014.
South Korea was the first country in May to establish a "green channel" with China to allow certain business people to travel between the two countries. Singapore followed suit.
Mr Yang is widely regarded as China's foreign policy czar. He was ambassador to the US from 2001 to 2005, and foreign minister between 2007 and 2013.
He was last in Singapore in 2015, accompanying President Xi on his first state visit to the Republic to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Singapore and China celebrate 30 years of formal ties this year.
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said last month that he was looking forward to welcoming Vice-Premier Han Zheng to Singapore for the annual Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation meeting, which has usually been held in September or October.
A date has yet to be set, given the pandemic.
The two countries take turns to host this meeting, the most important platform to discuss bilateral ties.
