Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at the Nov. 4 regular briefing that China is maintaining communication with relevant parties about a China-Russia-US summit. Huanqiu's report is that single line, so the timing and format of any meeting could not be confirmed.
According to Huanqiu, the online arm of Global Times, Mao Ning said at the Nov. 4 regular press conference, answering a question, that China is staying in communication with the relevant parties regarding a meeting of the Chinese, Russian and US leaders.
광고 문의 · 300×250The body of the report we reviewed was only this one paragraph. It did not name the outlet that asked, give the exact wording of the question or include any further explanation from the spokesperson. When, where and in what format the three leaders might meet is therefore unconfirmed.
What is and is not confirmed
What is confirmed is the Foreign Ministry's official statement that it is in contact with relevant parties on the matter. Who those parties are and at what level contact takes place were not stated in the report.
The positions of the United States and Russia were also absent from the Huanqiu article we reviewed. How the two governments view the meeting, and whether scheduling talks are actually under way, must await separate official announcements. This newspaper avoids speculation and reports only what can be verified.
On the same day Mao also described the US midterms as an internal US affair and stressed carrying out the consensus of the two presidents and strengthening communication. Both remarks came from the Nov. 4 briefing and show Beijing's emphasis on leader-level communication.