China’s top diplomat to visit UK, Ireland, US, South Africa

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit the UK, Ireland, the US, and South Africa as well as attend the Munich Security Conference in Germany this month.

Wang’s visit is due from Feb. 12 to Feb. 21, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.

In London, Wang will visit the UK to co-chair the 10th China-UK Strategic Dialogue alongside his British counterpart David Lammy.

Later, he will proceed to Ireland at the invitation of Simon Harris, Irish minister for foreign affairs and trade.

Wang will also attend the 61st Munich Security Conference in Germany, where he will “share China’s position on major international issues,” the statement added.

The annual conference is scheduled to be held from Feb. 14 to 16.

Following the conference, he will head to New York to chair a UN Security Council high-level event on Feb. 18.

China is the rotating chair of the council for this month and Beijing is hosting the event under the theme of “Practicing Multilateralism, Reforming and Improving Global Governance.”

Whether or not Wang will meet his US counterpart Marco Rubio, who was appointed by President Donald Trump last month, remains unclear.

After the US, Wang will visit Johannesburg to attend a G20 foreign ministers' meeting.

South Africa is the current chair of the bloc of the world’s top 20 economies and the meeting of their top diplomats will be held from Feb. 20 and 21.