China said Tuesday its Foreign Minister Qin Gang will not be able to attend Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings to be held in Indonesia later this week for "health reasons," with top diplomat Wang Yi representing Beijing instead.
Wang will join a series of regional gatherings in Jakarta scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said without elaborating on Qin's conditions.
The 57-year-old Chinese minister has remained out of public view since June 25, fueling speculation about his health. Hong Kong media reported Monday that Qin had contracted COVID-19.
The spokesman said China hopes the upcoming ASEAN meetings will yield some common understandings and "prepare the ground for fruitful leaders' meetings in September and contribute to regional peace, stability and prosperity."
He also pledged that Beijing will work with regional countries to "uphold the rules and order of the region."
Qin was supposed to meet European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday in Beijing, but the talks were canceled with no reasons given, according to Reuters.
The former Chinese ambassador to the United States assumed the ministerial post last December, succeeding Wang. The top diplomat is ranked above Qin in the Communist-ruled country.
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