WASHINGTON, Jan 4: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has cancelled a planned trip to China this week to deal with Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, the State Department said on Sunday.

“Due to events in the Middle East, Secretary Rice will not be able to travel to Beijing, China, as she had expected,” State Department spokesman Fred Lash said in a statement.

He said Rice’s deputy John Negroponte will travel instead to Beijing on Wednesday for what was scheduled to be her final trip as secretary of state, to mark 30 years of Sino-US diplomatic relations.

With Israel launching a ground attack on Hamas-held Gaza, the State Department says it is working toward a ceasefire but does not want a “status quo ante” in which the Palestinian group can fire rockets at Israel.—AFP