Hisham quarantined after close contact ahead of meeting with 'big brother' Wang

 

Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has been placed under quarantine after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 patient.

The compulsory quarantine has grounded plans for him to attend the Special Asean-China Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Chongqing, China on Monday.

He was supposed to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the meeting, and the May 31 intrusion by Chinese warplanes off the coast of Sarawak was on the agenda.

His last meeting with Wang was in early April. At the time, Hishammuddin came under fire for committing a diplomatic faux pas by referring to Wang as a “big brother” in poorly enunciated Chinese.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kamarudin Jaffar will be replacing Hishamuddin at the Asean-China meeting, but it is unclear whether he will replace Hishammuddin to meet Wang as well.

Besides the trip to China, planned working visits to Egypt, Kuwait, and Qatar have also been postponed to a later date.

“Although the foreign minister has undergone two PCR tests which have been found negative – under guidelines prescribed by the Health Ministry, the foreign minister is required to undergo compulsory quarantine and self-isolation,” Wisma Putra said in a statement today. - Mkini