MANILA
The top diplomats of the US, China and Russia are due in Manila this week to attend the annual forum of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers that started on Monday. The current ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is hosted by the Philippines as chair for 2026. It is part of a wider week of ASEAN-related diplomatic meetings in Manila, including with external partners.
Among the issues expected to be on the agenda are the ongoing crisis in Myanmar, South China Sea tensions, and the fallout of the US-Israeli war on Iran that brought fuel shortages, rising oil prices and disruptions to Southeast Asia’s international trade.
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial told reporters Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to take part in both the main ministerial meeting on Tuesday and post ministerial conferences on Thursday, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to meet his Philippine counterpart Theresa Lazaro.
“We believe that this engagement is very important because not only will it cover the bilateral relations between the Philippines and China, but it will also have something to do with regional, the impact of what’s happening globally to the region, to ASEAN,” Imperial said.
It will be the first meeting between Chinese and Philippine foreign ministers since 2024, which was also on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting, amid growing disagreements over the South China Sea as Manila has become more outspoken against Beijing’s claims in the disputed waterway. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Wang will be in Manila on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who boarded a flight to Manila on Monday, said he was “open to meeting” with his Chinese and Russian counterparts while in the Philippines. The last time the three top envoys were in the same venue at the same time was in July 2025, during the ASEAN ministers’ gathering in Kuala Lumpur. Rubio’s ASEAN forum attendance comes as the US is seeking to counter Beijing’s regional influence and days after President Donald Trump accused China of meddling in US elections.
Rubio will attend all the main ASEAN meetings from Monday to Thursday. “Secretary Rubio will use this trip to demonstrate the tangible results of U.S.-ASEAN partnership and to deepen the United States’ comprehensive partnership with the Philippines,” the Department of State said in a statement.
