By Daphne Psaledakis
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, the State Department said, in what will be the first in-person meeting of the two counterparts.
Washington’s top diplomat arrived in Malaysia on Thursday in his first trip to Asia since taking office, where he joined foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Kuala Lumpur and met with senior Malaysian officials and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
The visit is part of an effort to renew U.S. focus on the Indo-Pacific region and look beyond conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have consumed much of the Trump administration’s attention.
Rubio is attending the East Asia Summit and ASEAN regional forum on Friday, which include Japan, China, Russia, Australia, India, the European Union and more.
Analysts said Rubio would be looking to press the case that the United States remains a better partner than China, Washington’s main strategic rival, during the visit.
His meeting with Wang comes amid escalating trade tensions, with China this week warning the United States against reinstating hefty tariffs on its goods next month.
Beijing has also threatened to retaliate against nations that strike deals with the United States to cut China out of supply chains.
China, initially singled out with tariffs exceeding 100%, has until August 12 to reach a deal with the White House to keep Trump from reinstating additional import curbs imposed during tit-for-tat tariff exchanges in April and May.
Trump has also threatened to levy an additional 10% tariff on countries aligned with BRICS.
Originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the BRICS grouping is seen largely as China’s effort in establishing an economic grouping to counter Western powers and has since expanded to include members such as Indonesia and Iran.
Rubio told reporters on Thursday that he would also likely raise with Wang U.S. concerns over China’s support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
“The Chinese clearly have been supportive of the Russian effort and I think that generally, they’ve been willing to help them as much as they can without getting caught,” he said.
Trump earlier this week said Washington lately has a really good relationship with China and that the two strategic rivals are getting along well.
“We have had a really good relationship with China lately, and we’re getting along with them very well. They’ve been very fair on our trade deal, honestly,” Trump said, adding that he has been speaking regularly with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Rubio on Friday will also meet with the Japanese foreign minister and South Korea’s deputy foreign minister, just days after Trump announced 25% tariffs on both allies, effective August 1.
(Writing and additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Martin Petty)
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