China's foreign minister will not attend 2-day summit of ASEAN due to illness, spokesperson says
Fox News
Qin Gang, China's foreign minister, is unwell and won't attend the two-day summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week.
"State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang is unable to attend this series of foreign ministers’ meetings due to health reasons," Wang said at a daily briefing Tuesday.
Wang Yi, a former foreign minister and the current head of the ruling Communist Party's Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, will represent China at the meetings Thursday and Friday, Wang Wenbin said.
Wang Yi drew controversy last week with comments saying Westerners are incapable of distinguishing among Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, and suggesting the three countries with vastly different societies and polities form an alliance based on racial and cultural similarities.