Chinese top diplomat to visit Austria, Slovenia, Poland

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to visit Austria, Slovenia and Poland from Friday to Tuesday, Beijing's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Wang is expected to hold talks with Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon, and Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski during his visit.

The Chinese foreign minister last visited Vienna in 2023 and met with the then-Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.

Wang had last visited Poland and Slovenia in 2019. He had met the then-Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.

Separately, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian expressed Beijing's "firm opposition" to US President Donald Trump reportedly telling European officials that he is willing to impose fresh tariffs on India and China to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin for peace with Ukraine, but only if EU nations do so as well, according to the state-run Global Times.

"We firmly oppose directing the issue at China and we resolutely oppose the so-called economic pressure being imposed on China," said Lin during a regular news conference in Beijing, adding that Beijing "is neither the creator of this crisis nor a party to it."