Wang Yi and Marco Rubio at Asean discuss Xi’s planned US visit, South China Sea clash
America’s top diplomat describes dispute between Beijing and Manila over Second Thomas Shoal as very negative and benefiting no one
SCMP
The Chinese president’s planned trip to the US and the Beijing-Manila South China Sea dispute led the agenda when the top Chinese and American diplomats met in the Philippines on Wednesday.
After his talks with Wang, Rubio said there were still differences between the two countries but that their job was to manage them.
He added that there were areas of potential cooperation, and they discussed Xi’s planned trip to the US, according to Reuters.
“There is a huge effort on our part to restart a definite defence industrial base and restart its ability to produce,” he said.
Washington is reviewing a US$14-billion weapons package to the island and has not yet formally submitted the proposed sale to Congress, with the delay attributed to production capacity and ammunition reserves.
After his trip to Beijing in May, US President Donald Trump said that holding off on the package could be a “negotiating chip”.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.
Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
“One thing in particular is that they have been pretty clear that they don’t support any tolling or restrictions on global shipping through international waterways,” he said of China.
Before Rubio’s trip to Manila, the US State Department said the visit was meant to advance “a clear US priority: a free and open Indo-Pacific that delivers safety, security and prosperity for the region and for the American people”.
The diplomatic engagement comes as a rekindled US-Iran war puts Southeast Asian economies under intense economic and energy strain, and follows Washington’s allegations of Chinese electoral interference in the 2020 presidential election.
On Wednesday, Rubio said the allegations of election interference were not discussed in his meeting with Wang.
He also said the state of China-Japan ties was “troubling”, and that deep cooperation between Washington and Tokyo would continue.
Wang and Rubio last spoke in early July in what both sides described as a “positive and constructive” phone call. It was the first reported cabinet-level communication since Trump’s state visit in May.
The dialogue is a critical follow-up to the summit in which both countries pledged to establish a “new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability”, with Beijing committed to buying more planes, agricultural produce and energy products.
The rival powers are in a fragile trade truce reached by Xi and Trump in October last year and are trying to manage risks and stabilise ties to avert a total decoupling.
But their underlying tensions and rivalry – such as on critical supply chains and advanced technology – remain unchanged.
China has increasingly said it calls for managed competition rather than confrontation, while avoiding major concessions on issues over trade or Taiwan.
The move was welcomed in Beijing, which described Washington’s decision as “an important step in fulfilling the consensus reached in bilateral talks”.