President Xi Jinping's Beijing invite ignored by top Europe leaders

Chinese Foreign Ministry denies the reports

Top European leaders have left President Xi Jinping hanging over an invitation to meet him in Beijing later this year, according to the South China Morning Post, as tensions fray between Beijing and the bloc.
 
But later in the day,  China flatly denied the report. “I don’t know what’s their source of information,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday, referencing the  report. “I can tell you that is fake news.”
 
The newspaper, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and