New Delhi, 11th July 2023: Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister, will not attend a diplomatic summit in Indonesia this week due to health concerns, according to a representative for his ministry on Tuesday.
Instead, top diplomat Wang Yi will represent China at the discussions in Jakarta, confirming a Reuters report citing sources familiar with the subject that Wang would attend on Qin’s behalf.
Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China will meet on Thursday, ahead of the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum on Friday.
Spokesperson Wan Wenbin said, “State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang cannot attend this ASEAN ministerial meeting because of health reasons.”
Qin, 57, took over as foreign minister from Wang in December and was last seen in public on June 25 in Beijing, after meeting with officials from Sri Lanka, Russia, and Vietnam.
His absence had been noticed.
When queried last Friday about a story in the U.S. political news website Politico speculating that Qin’s absence could be due to health difficulties, the foreign ministry official claimed he had “not heard about” the report.
Qin was scheduled to meet European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Beijing last week, but the meeting was cancelled when China informed the EU that the dates were “no longer possible.”
According to a person acquainted with the preparations, the EU was told of the postponement just two days before Borrell’s intended arrival on July 5.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also scheduled to attend the Jakarta conference this week, providing another opportunity for talks with China as Washington works to put a floor under deteriorating relations between the two countries.
Last month, Blinken met with Qin and Wang Yi in Beijing, the first visit to China by a US secretary of state in five years.
