Qin Gang goes to Africa on first trip as foreign minister

• Qin Gang embarked on his first trip abroad as China’s Foreign Minister to Africa on Monday. He will stop in Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin, and Egypt during his week-long trip. The African Union Headquarters in Ethiopia and the League of Arab States Headquarters in Egypt are on the visiting schedule. Qin’s trip comes one month after President Xi Jinping met with Arab leaders at the first China-Arab States Summit. Qin’s predecessor Wang Yi first visited Southeast Asia after taking the post in 2013.

Chinese, Russian foreign ministers talk

• Qin Gang talked with Sergei Lavrov at the Russian Foreign Minister’s request (Zh/En). Qin highlighted “the principle of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-direction at the third party” in China-Russian relations. He also mentioned the “four musts” (“四个应该”)* and the “four joint propositions” (“四个共同”) raised by President Xi regarding the Ukraine issue.

• President Xi first talked about the “four musts” at a virtual summit (Zh/En) with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in March 2022:
  • The sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected (各国主权、领土完整都应该得到尊重).
  • The purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be observed (联合国宪章宗旨和原则都应该得到遵守).
  • The legitimate security concerns of all countries must be taken seriously. (各国合理安全关切都应该得到重视).
  • All efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of crises must be supported (一切有利于和平解决危机的努力都应该得到支持).

• The “four joint propositions” was brought forward by President Xi at the Opening Ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum (Zh/En) in June 2022:
  • We should embrace solidarity and coordination and jointly maintain world peace and stability(我们要团结协作，共同维护世界和平稳定).
  • We should reach out to each other and jointly promote sustainable global  development (我们要守望相助，共同促进全球可持续发展).
  • We should tide over difficulties together and jointly pursue win-win  cooperation (我们要同舟共济，共同实现合作共赢).
  • We should be inclusive and jointly expand openness and integration (我们要包容并蓄，共同扩大开放融合).

* The Chinese word “应该” is translated as “should” in English in a general context. In the Chinese official releases, the word was translated as “must,” which is seen as a stronger expression.

China suspends visa for South Koreans, Japanese

• The Chinese Embassy in South Korea has suspended issuing short-term visas to South Korean citizens from today. The measures will affect those travelers to China for business, tourism, transit, medical treatment, or general private affairs. The policy “will be adjusted depending on the cancellation of South Korea's discriminatory entry restrictions against Chinese citizens,” the Embassy said in a notice (Zh). According to Japanese media, China is imposing similar measures on Japanese citizens.