The Chinese foreign minister's visit comes just days before Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to arrive in Papua New Guinea, once again highlighting a tussle for influence between China and US allies.
At a time when Indo-Pacific maritime issues have gripped several nations, Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, has said that Jakarta and Beijing have agreed upon strengthening cooperation and bilateral relations.
Taiwan slammed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for calling it an "integral part of China" and said that the "Chinese Communist Party regime has never governed Taiwan."
This encounter marks the first face-to-face discussion between Lavrov and Xi in six years, a significant event given that heads of state typically do not meet visiting ministers directly.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi signed the Plan of Consultation between the foreign ministers of the two nations for 2024.
The US and UK have announced sanctions against Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company (Wuhan XRZ) and two Chinese nationals affiliated with Wuhan XRZ for their roles in malicious cyber operations.
Wang questioned the confidence of the United States as a major country, stating, "If it gets jittery whenever it hears the word China, where is its confidence as a major country?"
Affirming strong support for Palestine amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, China has called the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza a "tragedy for humanity" and a "disgrace for civilization," Xinhua reported.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi engaged in a brief conversation on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
The planned meeting on the sidelines of the security conference (February 16-18) is part of efforts to increase high-level engagements after months of heightened tensions over issues ranging from a suspected Chinese spy balloon and Taiwan to trade restrictions, according to Kyodo.