China’s most senior diplomat, Yang Jiechi, will visit Europe starting Tuesday, a rare arrangement by Beijing that saw back-to-back diplomatic visits by top officials.

Foreign Affairs Office director and Politburo member Yang will visit Laos, Spain and Greece before returning to China on Sept. 4. The trip was meant to “help lay the groundwork” for Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend a special summit with European Union leaders in mid-September, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

Yang’s visit follows a week-long European tour by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which began last Tuesday and included stops at Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France and Germany.

Wang’s charm offensive was a “failure,” with the Chinese emissary receiving tepid receptions from European leaders and being dogged by human rights protests during his public appearances, according to French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

Wang signed two trade agreements with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, but was denied a face-to-face audience with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Wang was also snubbed by French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, as neither made public statements following their meetings with him.

Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok drew Wang’s attention to human rights abuses against Hongkongers and Uighurs in Xinjiang.

Wang also courted controversy in Oslo when he said that Norway must not award the Nobel Peace Prize to Hong Kong protesters, and sparked backlash with his comments alleging that the virus causing COVID-19 did not originate from China.

It was rare for two top officials to visit Europe on such a tight schedule, which shows that Beijing is eager to shore up support within the European Union, said Hui Ching, research director at the Hong Kong Zhi Ming Institute.

It was “unrealistic” for Beijing to expect Europe to become its ally against the United States, but the recent trips may be able to reinforce Europe’s dependence on China, Hui said.

“Can China redirect its resources and manpower from the Belt and Road Initiative to refocus on Europe? We can only wait and see,” Hui said.

Hui said that Wang’s trip should not be seen as a total failure, but it was hard to say how the China-Europe relationship would develop as the United States edges closer to its presidential election in November.

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