Kerry to start foreign tour on Thursday

US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to France, Mongolia and China on Thursday, the US State Department said in a statement.

    Kerry will travel to Paris on June 2 where he will participate in the French-hosted ministerial on Middle East peace, and meet separately with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to discuss the Counter-ISIS Coalition efforts in Iraq and Syria, as well as a host of other issues.

    The Secretary will then travel to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where he will meet with senior government officials. He will also host a town hall with young leaders and attend a traditional Mongolian cultural festival.

    Kerry will then travel to Beijing on June 5 accompanied by Secretary of the Treasury Jacob J. Lew, as President Obama’s Special Representatives. They will join their respective Chinese co-chairs, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang, as President Xi’s Special Representatives, along with members of the US delegation and their Chinese colleagues for the eighth US–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. 

    The Dialogue will focus on the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global areas of immediate and long-term economic and strategic interest, the State Department said.

    Secretary Kerry will also join Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong for the seventh annual US–China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE). The CPE promotes and strengthens people-to-people ties between the United States and China in the fields of education, culture, science and technology, sports, women’s issues, and health. It provides a high-level annual forum for government and private-sector representatives to discuss cooperation on exchanges in a broad, strategic manner.

Source: QNA