US ‘expects’ new Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Washington after extending invitation

A week after China sacked Qin Gang and appointed Wang Yi as the country’s new foreign minister, the US sent a formal invitation to the latter to visit Washington. The US State Department extended the invitation to Wang Yi on Monday during a meeting between US Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and Yang Tao, Director General of the North American and Oceania Affairs at China’s Foreign Ministry. Miller said, “In the meeting yesterday, we extended the invitation that had previously been made to foreign minister Qin Gang and made clear that the invitation did transfer over.” It is, however, not confirmed if the Chinese side has yet accepted Washington’s invitation. “We certainly expect that it is something that they would accept and is a trip that we expect to happen, but we have not yet scheduled a date,” Miller added. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Washington has said that Beijing is in “consultation” with Kritenbrink and that both sides had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges of views on China-US relations as well as global and regional issues of mutual interest”. “Concerning the high-level exchanges, both sides have maintained necessary communication,” the spokesperson added. Why was Qin Gang sacked? Qin Gang, who has been missing since June, was abruptly removed as China’s foreign minister last week. The decision to sack Qin Gang was made at a special session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee. Qin Gang went MIA in June. His disappearance triggered large-scale public discussions that eventually evolved into one of the biggest crises for Xi Jinping. According to South China Morning Post, Qin was removed from office on the basis of rules mentioned in the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress that empowers the Standing Committee to appoint or remove officials. Meanwhile, Qin was last seen in public on June 25 during a public meeting with senior diplomats of Russia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.