[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Seoyul] Wang Yi, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister, will visit five Southeast Asian countries consecutively from the 3rd, including Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website on the 2nd, during his tour, Minister Wang will preside over the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting (with participants from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc.) in Myanmar and attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Indonesia. He is also expected to hold bilateral foreign minister talks with each visited country.
Following this, Minister Wang will return to China and preside over the 14th Meeting of the China-Vietnam Bilateral Cooperation Steering Committee and the 6th Meeting of the China-Cambodia Government Coordination Committee in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Through the schedule continuing until the 14th, he will engage with most ASEAN countries.
This move by Minister Wang appears to be an effort to prevent Southeast Asian countries from joining the U.S.'s expanding encirclement of China. It comes right after the NATO summit held on the 29th-30th of last month, where the U.S.-led NATO defined China as a 'challenge' and sought to strengthen cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries such as South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
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