U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to travel to Manila for meetings with Asia-Pacific partners, where he is expected to meet China’s top diplomat Wang Yi. Multiple reports say the talks are aimed at laying groundwork for a potential summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in September, following their most recent meeting in May.
Reuters reports that Rubio’s Asia meetings this weekend include coordination ahead of the possible Xi-Trump summit. The Japan Times similarly says analysts expect Rubio’s meeting with Wang Yi to focus on preparations for a second summit this year, referencing the prior Trump-Xi encounter in May. Both sources frame the Manila meetings as diplomatic outreach in support of potential high-level dialogue rather than announcing a final decision on whether a summit will occur.
The reporting also indicates that Rubio’s itinerary involves broader regional engagement beyond China, but the central anticipated topic of the Rubio-Wang Yi meeting is U.S.-China summit coordination for a later date this year.
