China’s State Councilor and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi will be arriving in Port Moresby this afternoon on a special charter private jet.
He will be met by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Elias Wohengu, Chief of Protocol, James Noglai and Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to PNG Zeng Fanhua upon arrival at the APEC terminal.
From there Mr Yi will proceed straight to the China Harbor Apartments.
Mr Yi will have a bilateral meeting with his counterpart Soroi Eoe on Friday June 3, 2022.
After the meeting, the minister will witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to promote investment cooperation in Green Development between PNG and the People’s Republic of China.
Mr Yi will also pay a courtesy visit to Prime Minister James Marape after the signing.
Meantime, former Prime Minister and Member for Ialibu Pangia, Peter O’Neill has called for no agreements to be signed during the visit by Chinese Foreign Minister.
He said the timing is not right for the visit as PNG is into its election.
O’Neill explained that Members of the Parliament are now contesting the election and should not sign any agreements on behalf of the State.
He said tensions in the region between global superpowers from the West and China are driving foreign leaders to give a high amount of attention to the Pacific.
Therefore, O’Neill argued that with these existing tensions, we should not get caught up unnecessarily.