The last time the Qin Gang was seen in public was on June 25.
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has indefinitely postponed his planned visit to Beijing for the end of July due to the absence of his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, from the public scene, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Thus, two informants indicated that the fact that the senior Asian diplomat has been absent from the public scene for almost a month is the main reason why the British foreign minister postponed his trip, while another source points out that the situation is only one of several factors that influenced the decision.
According to people familiar with the matter, the two countries are studying alternative dates for the visit.
According to the protocols, it would be normal for Cleverly to meet his ministerial counterpart when traveling to Beijing. In this regard, one of the sources explained that a meeting between the British Foreign Minister and the director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Wang Yi, would not conform to the rules.
The last time Qin was seen in public was June 25th, when he met with officials from Russia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Wang has substituted for Qin in recent diplomatic meetings, the article notes.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin announced last week that the foreign minister will not attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) annual foreign ministers meeting in Indonesia due to his “physical condition.”