Washington: After Wang Yi's predecessor was abruptly fired by Beijing, the United States has extended a formal invitation to Wang Yi to visit Washington, according to State Department spokesperson Matt Miller on Tuesday.

Last week, China reappointed veteran diplomat Wang to the position of foreign minister, replacing former rising star Qin Gang, whose mysterious absence after only seven months in the position has prompted concerns about transparency.

Qin was only absent from work due to an unidentified health issue, according to the ministry.

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According to Miller, the invitation was extended on Monday during a meeting at the State Department between Yang Tao, Director General of North American and Oceanian Affairs at China's Foreign Ministry, and Daniel Kritenbrink, US Assistant Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs.

"We extended the invitation that had been extended to foreign minister Qin Gang in the meeting yesterday and made clear that invitation does transfer over," Miller said.

He did not mention whether the Chinese side had accepted the invitation, but he did add that Washington anticipated that they would.

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But we haven't set a date yet, Miller said. "We certainly expect that it is something that they would accept and is a trip that we expect to happen."

When questioned about the invitation, the Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On June 18, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China for the first time in five years and met with Qin. They had "candid, substantive, and constructive" discussions, according to the US State Department, and Blinken invited Qin to Washington to continue the conversation.

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Qin, 57, a former adviser to President Xi Jinping and ambassador to the US, assumed control of the ministry in December but hasn't been seen in the media since June 25, when he hosted foreign diplomats in Beijing.

The brief justification from the foreign ministry that this was because of health issues was later removed from official transcripts.
Wang, who succeeded Qin and is also his predecessor, held the position from 2013 to 2022 as relations with the rival superpower the United States deteriorated to what Beijing described as an all-time low. Wang is 69 years old.
In Qin's absence, Blinken later met Wang outside of a regional conference in Jakarta.