Chinese foreign minister to visit RP

MANILA, Philippines - Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Yang Jiechi will visit to the Philippines from Oct. 28 to 29.

During his two-day official visit, Yang will hold talks with Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo on bilateral, regional and international issues of common interest. The two officials will sign the Joint Action Plan for Strategic Cooperation between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, as well as the Consular Agreement between China and the Philippines.

The Shanghai-born minister attended the University of Bath and the London School of Economics, and holds a doctorate degree in history. He served at the Chinese embassy in Washington DC for several tours of duty, starting in 1983 as second secretary, as minister in 1993, and then as ambassador in 2001. During his tenure as ambassador to the US, Yang worked to ease tensions between the two countries following the 2001 mid-air collision between a US EP-3 spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet off the coast of Hainan island in the South China Sea.

He was vice minister of Foreign Affairs from 1998 to 2001, then again from 2005 to 2007. He was named minister of foreign affairs in April 2007.

Earlier this year, he received an honorary degree from the Geneva School of Diplomacy.        – Pia Lee-Brago