JAKARTA: China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will attend an international gathering of foreign ministers in Indonesia this week, sources said, raising questions over the whereabouts of Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang who has not been seen for more than two weeks.
The three sources familiar with the matter declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to the media. Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China were scheduled to meet on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum.
The foreign minister would normally represent China at the meetings, this time in Jakarta, Indonesia. Qin was last seen in public on Jun 25 in Beijing after meeting officials from Sri Lanka, Russia and Vietnam.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a query about Qin’s whereabouts.
His absence has not gone unnoticed.