Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit the Republic of Korea (ROK) from December 4 to 5 ahead of a trilateral summit among China, the ROK and Japan, expected to be held later next month.
During the Chinese foreign minister's planned first trip to the neighbor since 2015, he is scheduled to meet with his ROK counterpart with their discussion agenda likely covering bilateral ties, preparation for the trilateral summit and issues of common interest.
Before visiting the ROK, Wang visited Japan and met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. The two sides agreed to jointly improve relations and settle bilateral disputes with concrete actions.
China earlier announced that it is planning to hold the eighth China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting in December in China's Chengdu City which Abe and ROK President Moon Jae-in are expected to attend.
The meeting, first proposed by the ROK in 2004 as a meeting outside the framework of the ASEAN Plus Three, is meant to function as a coordinator of cooperation between the ASEAN and the three East Asian nations to promote economic integration and multilateral trade in Asia.
Shadow casts NATO summit
The leaders of NATO members will gather to commemorate the alliance's 70th anniversary in London from December 4 to 5 amid questions over the bloc's unity.
The Trump administration has repeatedly complained about NATO allies' free-riding on the U.S. military. The U.S. State Department in its Tuesday's statement said the U.S. delegation will highlight the progress on burden sharing during the upcoming NATO summit.
The conflicts within the alliance over the Iran nuclear issue, Russia's rapprochement and Turkey's operations in the northern Syria are still unresolved.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently criticized that NATO is experiencing "brain death" as U.S. steps back and called Turkey's offensive in northern Syria "crazy," which ignited the latest "flames of war" within the block.
Erdogan on Friday told the French president to check own "brain-dead" situation.
There will be a four-nation meeting on Syria with the leaders of Turkey, France and the UK on the sidelines of NATO summit where Erdogan and Macron are set to go head-to-head in the "brain death" row.
Adding on that, no one knows what Trump will say at the upcoming summit. However, he may experience a cold reception in London with even his close ally UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Friday warning the U.S. president to stay out of the UK election.
Impeachment drama
The U.S. impeachment drama could escalate even more in the coming weeks as Congress moves to the next phase.
The House Intelligence Committee is due to submit a formal report to the Judiciary Committee after lawmakers return to Congress on Tuesday from a Thanksgiving recess. The report will outline evidence gathered by lawmakers on the panel, along with those on the Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees.
The Judiciary panel is also expected to hold a series of impeachment proceedings next week, including an initial hearing on Wednesday at which legal experts are due to testify about the constitutional grounds for impeachment.
The Judiciary Committee invited Trump to participate in the hearing and gave him until 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT) on December 1 to say whether he or his legal team would attend.
Meanwhile the panel also set a deadline of 5 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) on December 6 for the president's counsel to specify intended actions under the committee's impeachment procedures.
After Wednesday, the Judiciary panel, which could recommend a full House impeachment vote before Christmas, is expected to hold a hearing to examine the evidence report and further proceedings to consider formal articles of impeachment.
Day by day
Monday: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will pay an official visit to Serbia (to December 3), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visits Azerbaijan (to December 3), The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, will travel to Tirana, Albania (to December 3), U.S. President Donald Trump heads to London for NATO summit, World leaders meet in Madrid for the 2019 UN climate change conference (COP25) (to December 13).
Tuesday: NATO Heads of State and Government will meet in London (to December 4) , Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan to meet EU leaders for Syria talks at NATO summit (to December 4), U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to the UK, Morocco and Portugal (to December 6), Mongolia Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh will visit Russia.
Wednesday: Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi visits South Korea (to December 5), China's National Constitution Day, The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay meet in Bento Gonzalves in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul for their semiannual Mercosur summit (to December 5), Russian President Vladimir Putin holds talks with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic.
Thursday: Lavrov visits Italy (to December 7), Foreign ministers of members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meet for their annual Council of Ministers meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia (to December 6).
Friday: Pompeo meets with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva during a visit in Lisbon, Dominican House of Assembly Election.
Saturday: Lavrov continues visit in Italy.
Sunday: A quiet day in Politics
(With input from agencies)