SerpApi.Org
The meeting between Marco Rubio and Wang Yi boosts preparations for a new summit between Xi and Trump, amidst the Indo-Pacific rivalry and with a new clash between Beijing and the Philippines in the background.
This week, Manila has become much more than the venue for the annual ASEAN Foreign Ministers' summit, the bloc formed by Southeast Asian nations. The Philippine capital has served as a stage for a new attempt to stabilize the relationship between the two major powers on the planet, both invited to the event.
This Wednesday, there was a meeting between the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi. A face-to-face that has allowed progress in the preparations for President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Washington. The trip, scheduled for September, would reciprocate the visit made by American President Donald Trump to Beijing last May.
Although Washington and Beijing have managed to reduce the trade tensions that marked much of recent years, strategic differences remain intact. Taiwan, technological development, critical supply chains, military competition in the Indo-Pacific, and territorial disputes in the South China Sea continue to shape an agenda full of disagreements that neither party seems willing to resolve through major concessions.
Nevertheless, both countries seem to have accepted that rivalry requires permanent channels of communication. Rubio himself summarized that philosophy before meeting with Wang Yi by stating that "two powers of such magnitude have the obligation to keep talking even when they disagree on fundamental issues."
This message aligns with Beijing's discourse in recent months: managed competition to avoid open confrontation capable of destabilizing the global economy.
Xi's possible visit to the US represents the next step in this process. Although Beijing has not officially confirmed the trip yet, both governments are discreetly working to prepare a new meeting between the two presidents.
The goal is to consolidate the agreements reached after Trump's visit to China, where both sides pledged to rebuild a relationship based on greater strategic stability and limited economic cooperation, enough to avoid a new trade escalation.
However, this diplomatic approach coexists with a growing accumulation of open fronts. In recent days, Trump has again accused China of interfering in the 2020 US presidential elections by illegally accessing voter data, an accusation that Beijing has vehemently denied.
The Manila meeting was also marked by the war in the Middle East. Rubio highlighted China's cooperation in preserving international freedom of navigation in the context of the conflict with Iran, emphasizing that Beijing has made it clear its rejection of any restrictions on maritime traffic through strategic routes.
But there is another scenario where the rivalry between Washington and Beijing is now more visible: the South China Sea. A couple of days before the meeting between Rubio and Wang Yi, the Philippines and China were involved in a new episode of tension around the Second Thomas Shoal, one of the numerous enclaves whose sovereignty remains disputed.
Manila reported that a Filipino sailor was injured during a confrontation with the Chinese Coast Guard near the Sierra Madre, the old warship grounded that the Philippines uses as a permanent military detachment in the area. Beijing responded by accusing Filipino forces of initiating the incident and reiterated what it considers provocations encouraged by the United States.
The clash reflects a dynamic that has been repeated with increasing frequency in recent years. The Philippines accuses Chinese vessels of using aggressive maneuvers, water cannons, and even lasers to hinder their supply operations, while China insists that it is acting within waters under its historical sovereignty.
The dispute also unfolds against a particularly sensitive legal backdrop: the 2016 international arbitral ruling that invalidated much of China's maritime claims, a ruling that Beijing continues to reject.
As a military ally of the Philippines, the US has hardened its stance against Chinese actions. Rubio reiterated in Manila the US commitment to freedom of navigation and the defense of its allies, while describing the recent confrontation between Chinese and Filipino vessels as "very negative."
Washington believes that control of these maritime routes is one of the main pillars of strategic balance in Asia and an essential element for global trade.
This debate occupies a prominent place on the ASEAN agenda, which this year holds its meetings under the shadow of several simultaneous crises: the civil war in Myanmar and the energy crisis resulting from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict initiated by the US against Iran.
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