Despite trade tensions, the U.S. Secretary of State and China met
Marco Rubio met with Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, amid trade tensions with China and mentioned the possibility of a meeting and discussion between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, said on Friday that he had positive and constructive talks with Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister.
This senior American diplomat, who is on his first Asian trip since taking office at the State Department, visited Malaysia and emphasized the United States’ commitment to the East Asia region and the ASEAN regional forum.
Rubio conducted his first face-to-face conversation with the Chinese Foreign Minister while Beijing warned the United States about reinstating heavy tariffs on its goods next month and threatened to retaliate against countries signing agreements with the U.S. to cut China’s access to supply chains.
During negotiations with his Asian counterparts in Malaysia, Wang strongly criticized Washington and called the U.S. tariffs typical unilateral bullying behavior.
However, both sides described Friday’s bilateral session as positive and constructive, and Rubio said that the likelihood of Trump meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is high.