{"id":129844,"date":"2026-07-22T20:57:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=129844"},"modified":"2026-07-22T20:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:57:12","slug":"rubio-holds-talks-with-chinas-wang-yi-as-regional-powers-join-asean-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129844\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubio holds talks with China&#8217;s Wang Yi as regional powers join Asean meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk(National Times)- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for talks on Wednesday during a regional gathering led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), where top diplomats voiced concern about renewed Middle East hostilities and tension in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two were expected to discuss a possible US summit between&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2004325\">their leaders<\/a>&nbsp;flagged for the end of September by President Donald Trump, with Rubio saying on Sunday it was still anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rubio and Wang did not speak to the media as they entered the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The meeting comes amid a fragile truce between the world\u2019s biggest economies that could be complicated by Trump\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2016135\">accusations of Chinese meddling<\/a>&nbsp;in US elections, which Beijing has denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The broader Asean meeting in Manila comes amid a flare-up in the conflict between the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/live\/iran-israel-war\">United States and Iran<\/a>, while tension simmers between Beijing and close US ally the Philippines over an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2017108\">incident<\/a>&nbsp;in the South China Sea that led each to summon the other\u2019s ambassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meeting with foreign ministers of Asean, who expressed serious concern about the Middle East war, Rubio put the blame squarely on Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe problem we\u2019re having right now is that they\u2019re not serious about talks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf they\u2019re serious, we\u2019re serious. If they\u2019re not, then we will do what\u2019s necessary to protect our interests, and also the interests of our allies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rubio stressed that Iran could not be allowed to control the Strait of Hormuz, as it could set a dangerous precedent for other parts of the world, including Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2017513\/rubio-holds-talks-with-chinas-wang-yi-as-regional-powers-join-asean-meeting#commerce-as-a-geopolitical-weapon\"><\/a>\u2018Commerce as a geopolitical weapon\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His remarks follow an&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/opinion.inquirer.net\/193252\/a-region-that-determines-its-own-future-with-american-backing\">opinion piece<\/a>&nbsp;in Philippine media published on his arrival in Manila on Tuesday that took aim at Beijing, in which he said Asean countries were confronting \u201cnew and coercive threats\u201d in the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1899055\">South China Sea<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf those waters fall under the control of a power willing to use commerce as a geopolitical weapon, both the United States and the Asean states would face dire new threats to their sovereignty, security, and economic futures,\u201d Rubio wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea via a line on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and is at the centre of long-running disputes over a multitude of islands and features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Australia\u2019s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Monday\u2019s altercation between China\u2019s coast guard and Philippine navy personnel in the South China Sea prompted real concern about \u201cdestabilising and risky\u201d behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe countries of the region have a choice to make about how we all respond to that,\u201d Wong told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, adding that the Middle East conflict could deteriorate further, without much warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China\u2019s foreign ministry said Australia was not a party to the South China Sea issue and had no right to intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChina urges relevant countries to stop stirring up tension and inciting confrontation,\u201d ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event is also being attended by Britain, Canada, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia and South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2017513\/rubio-holds-talks-with-chinas-wang-yi-as-regional-powers-join-asean-meeting#china-asean-can-be-anchor-for-regional-peace-wang-says\"><\/a>China, Asean can be anchor for regional peace, Wang says<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rows between the Philippines and China have increased in recent years as Manila takes a bolder stance on the South China Sea, while pursuing closer defence ties with the United States, Australia and Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In talks with Asean\u2019s secretary-general on Tuesday, Wang said some elements of the Philippines\u2019 security apparatus had engaged in deliberate provocations that served interests of \u201cexternal forces\u201d, and Beijing was willing to work with Asean to \u201celiminate interfering factors\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wang met Asean counterparts on Wednesday and said mutual trust, openness and inclusiveness were key to their prosperity and a foundation to \u201cget things done\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet us be the anchor for regional and global peace and development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rubio also joined counterparts from India, Australia and Japan for a meeting of the Quad grouping that Beijing has criticised as being Cold War-like and aimed at containing China\u2019s development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a joint statement, they reaffirmed their commitment to \u201cstrengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific and our unwavering support for Asean unity and centrality\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for talks on Wednesday during a regional gathering led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), where top diplomats voiced concern about renewed Middle East hostilities and tension in the South China Sea. The two were expected to discuss [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rubio holds talks with China&#039;s Wang Yi as regional powers join Asean meeting - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129844\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rubio holds talks with China&#039;s Wang Yi as regional powers join Asean meeting - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for talks on Wednesday during a regional gathering led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), where top diplomats voiced concern about renewed Middle East hostilities and tension in the South China Sea. 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