BEIJING: China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will embark on a three-country visit to Southeast Asia this week, seeking to strengthen ties in the face of “risks”, Beijing said on Tuesday (Apr 21).
Wang will visit Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar from Wednesday until Sunday, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news briefing, calling the three countries China’s “friendly neighbours”.
China has been keen to present itself to its allies as a more stable alternative to US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs and mercurial policies.
Beijing hosted a slew of foreign leaders last week, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vietnamese leader To Lam.
China hopes the visits to the three Southeast Asian nations will deepen ties to the region facing “risks and challenges” at a time of “once-in-a-century transformations”.
China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun will also join Wang in meeting their Cambodian counterparts, Guo added.
The Cambodian foreign ministry said the meeting will take place on Wednesday in Phnom Penh.
The two Chinese ministers will also meet Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, former leader Hun Sen, the ministry said.
China is Cambodia’s biggest trading partner and source of investment, visited by President Xi Jinping when he went on a rare Southeast Asia tour last year.
All three countries are at “critical stages” of their development, spokesman Guo said, noting Thailand and Myanmar had just seen the formation of new governments.
Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president this month, while Thailand’s new parliament elected Anutin Charnvirakul as prime minister in March.
Anutin told reporters in Bangkok on Tuesday that the discussion between the two sides would have an “open agenda”.
“We will probably ask China to purchase more agricultural products, rice and fruits, and invest more,” he said.
