US prioritises ties with East and Southeast Asia as Rubio reassures partners amid concerns over tariffs
\n Washington
\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi had a \u201cpositive\u201d meeting in Malaysia on Friday, both sides said, in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the rival powers.
\nRubio and Wang\u2019s first face-to-face meeting since US President Donald Trump returned to office came as Washington and Beijing are locked in disputes ranging from trade to Taiwan \u2013 and both countries vie for greater influence in the region.
\n\u201cI thought it was a very constructive and positive meeting,\u201d Rubio told reporters after the hour-long talks in capital Kuala Lumpur, but he stressed: \u201cIt was not a negotiation.\u201d
\n\u201cI think we left it feeling as there\u2019s some areas we\u2019re gonna be able to work together on.\u201d
\nRubio was also optimistic that a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would happen.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a strong desire on both sides to do it,\u201d Rubio said, adding no date was set.
\nBeijing said in a statement \u201cboth sides agreed that the meeting was positive, pragmatic and constructive\u201d.
\nBoth countries agreed to \u201cenhance communication and dialogue through diplomatic channels… and explore expanding cooperation areas while managing differences,\u201d China\u2019s foreign ministry said.
\nThe sit-down between Wang and Rubio, a longtime China hawk, came as Asian foreign ministers wrapped up three days of talks at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations gathering in Kuala Lumpur.
\nTop diplomats from Russia, the European Union, Australia, Britain and Canada also attended.
\nUS officials said ahead of Rubio\u2019s first trip to the region as secretary of state that Washington was \u201cprioritising\u201d its commitment to East and Southeast Asia.
\nWhile US tariffs overshadowed the gathering, Rubio said he was \u201cwarmly received\u201d by Asian partners as he sought to placate concerns over the duties.
\n\u201cIf you look at some of these trade deficits, they\u2019re massive. That has to be addressed,\u201d Rubio said at the end of his whirlwind trip.
\n\u201cEverybody here is a mature leader who understands that that\u2019s not sustainable.\u201d
\nTrump has threatened punitive tariffs ranging from 20 to 50 percent against more than 20 countries, many in Asia, if they do not strike deals with Washington by August 1.
\nASEAN described the tariffs as \u201ccounterproductive\u201d and a threat to regional growth, according to a joint statement released Friday.
\nLong-time US ally Japan faces a 25 percent across-the-board levy, separate from similar charges already imposed on cars, steel and aluminium. South Korea faces a similar tariff.
\nRubio met his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on Friday, with his spokeswoman Tammy Bruce calling it an \u201cindispensable relationship\u201d.
\nWang told Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim earlier Friday that Washington\u2019s \u201cunilateral imposition of high tariffs is irresponsible and unpopular,\u201d according to a foreign ministry statement.
\nMalaysia\u2019s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan told a closing news conference the ASEAN meeting mentioned \u201ceach country\u2019s concerns respectively\u201d regarding tariffs.
\nTensions between the United States and China have ratcheted up since Trump took office in January, with both countries engaging in a tariff war that briefly sent duties on each other\u2019s exports sky-high.
\nWashington hit China with additional levies of 145 percent on its goods as both sides engaged in tit-for-tat escalation, while China\u2019s countermeasures on US goods reached 125 percent.
\nBeijing and Washington agreed in May to temporarily slash the staggering tariffs \u2013 an outcome Trump dubbed a \u201ctotal reset\u201d.
\nHowever, deep mistrust remains between the two countries, with each suspecting the other of trying to weaken its influence.
\nUS Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused China in late May of \u201ccredibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power\u201d in the Asia-Pacific region.
\nHe also claimed that Beijing \u201ctrains every day\u201d to invade self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.
\nIn response, Chinese diplomats accused the United States of using the Taiwan issue to \u201ccontain China\u201d and called on Washington to stop \u201cplaying with fire.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US prioritises ties with East and Southeast Asia as Rubio reassures partners amid concerns over tariffs Washington US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi had a \u201cpositive\u201d meeting in Malaysia on Friday, both sides said, in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the rival powers. Rubio and Wang\u2019s first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-489725","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n