Rubio to meet China's Wang Yi in Malaysia amid trade tension

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to hold his first face-to-face meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, according to the State Department. The meeting will take place during Rubio’s inaugural visit to Asia since assuming office.

Rubio arrived in Malaysia on Thursday to participate in high-level talks with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as bilateral meetings with Malaysian officials and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. His trip is part of a broader push to re-centre U.S. foreign policy on the Indo-Pacific, as attention has largely been dominated by developments in the Middle East and Europe under the Trump administration.

Rubio will take part in the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, which bring together countries such as China, Japan, Russia, India, Australia, and members of the European Union.

Analysts say Rubio’s mission includes reaffirming that the U.S. is a more reliable and strategic partner in the region than China, especially as tensions between Washington and Beijing intensify over trade and geopolitical influence.

The meeting with Wang Yi comes just as China warns the U.S. against reimposing major tariffs next month. Beijing has also threatened to retaliate against any countries that enter into agreements with Washington aimed at cutting China out of global supply chains.

Currently, China is facing tariffs of more than 100%, with a 12 August deadline to reach a deal to avoid further restrictions. These tariffs stem from tit-for-tat measures taken earlier this year in April and May.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has also signalled plans to impose a 10% tariff on countries aligned with BRICS- an economic bloc originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and now expanded to include Indonesia, Iran, and others. The bloc is widely viewed as a strategic alternative to Western-led economic systems, largely promoted by China.

Rubio indicated that he would raise concerns with Wang about China’s ongoing support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“The Chinese have clearly been backing Russia and are doing so discreetly to avoid direct accountability,” he said.

Despite these tensions, Trump this week described current U.S.-China relations as positive, noting frequent conversations with Chinese President Xi Jinping and praising what he called China’s fairness on trade matters.

On the sidelines of the summit, Rubio is also expected to meet with the Japanese foreign minister and South Korea’s deputy foreign minister. These meetings come shortly after Trump announced that 25% tariffs on imports from both allies would take effect on 1 August.

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