MANILA
\nThe 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\u2019 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.
\nAmong 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\u2019s international trade.
\nPhilippine 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.
\n\u201cWe 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\u2019s happening globally to the region, to ASEAN,\u201d Imperial said.
\nIt 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\u2019s claims in the disputed waterway. China\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Wang will be in Manila on Wednesday.
\nUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who boarded a flight to Manila on Monday, said he was \u201copen to meeting\u201d 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\u2019 gathering in Kuala Lumpur. Rubio\u2019s ASEAN forum attendance comes as the US is seeking to counter Beijing\u2019s regional influence and days after President Donald Trump accused China of meddling in US elections.
\nRubio will attend all the main ASEAN meetings from Monday to Thursday. \u201cSecretary Rubio will use this trip to demonstrate the tangible results of U.S.-ASEAN partnership and to deepen the United States\u2019 comprehensive partnership with the Philippines,\u201d the Department of State said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019 Meeting is hosted by the Philippines as chair for 2026. It is part of a wider week […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-557416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n