BEIJING: China has unexpectedly removed Sun Weidong from his position as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, a move that has raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles.
The decision is announced on the official website of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Details of Sun’s dismissal were not provided. Notably, the decision was made by China’s highest governmental body but no other details were given.
As per the official statement, the final decision was made at an unspecified time and the exact reason for removing Sun was not stated. The last meetings of Sun Weidong were held on March 13, when he visited Brunei and Malaysian ambassadors in China. Two days earlier, he also had discussions with the ambassador of Pakistan to China regarding bilateral cooperation.
The sudden dismissal of Sun amid allegations of corruption in China has raised speculations. Last year, China conducted more than one million investigations for corruption and punished nearly 938,000 people.
As per China’s yearly corruption report, six to nine provincial ministers, 4,155 bureau ministers, 35,000 district-level ministers and over 125,000 ministers at various levels of the country were punished.
US-Iran peace talks: Iran confirms Pakistan as top venue for next round
Earlier, Iranian officials have confirmed their willingness to engage in a second round of negotiations with the United States, expressing that Pakistan would be their preferred venue for the talks.
Rumours about the upcoming round of US-Iran negotiations, expected to take place in Islamabad, have been circulating rapidly in recent days. In an interview with Geo News, Iranian authorities stated they are prepared for discussions, but the other side’s stance remains unclear.
“We are ready for the talks; however, we need confirmation from the other side. In case the second round of talks comes through, Islamabad will be our preferred venue for the talks,” the Iranian official said.
Reuters reports that the US delegation may visit Pakistan to continue the peace talks in Islamabad within the coming week. Furthermore, a representative of the Iranian embassy in Pakistan told Reuters that the second round of talks might occur by the end of this week or at the beginning of the following week.
It was previously reported by US news agencies that Pakistan had offered the venue for the second round of talks between the two nations. According to the report, the talks may take place by Thursday.
