US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a roughly 90-minute bilateral meeting on July 22, 2026, in Manila during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which ran from July 19 to 24 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss preparations for Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit to the United States in late September 2026. Rubio said they aimed to "identify areas of cooperation as a basis for a positive visit by President Xi Jinping to the US in September" [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10].
Both sides acknowledged significant disagreements remain between the US and China but stressed the importance of dialogue and managing these differences responsibly. Rubio said, "There are obviously some frictions, there are some things we disagree on, but I think it’s the responsibility of strong and important countries like us to keep talking and keep the relationship," adding that "We have to manage and address these differences step by step. These differences will continue to exist for the foreseeable future" [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].
Topics discussed included trade issues, the creation of a US-China trade council, Taiwan, the South China Sea, and regional security matters, including US defense commitments to the Philippines [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Rubio specifically criticized China's recent coast guard activities around Taiwan, saying they "violate the spirit of strategic stability that we are trying to build with China" [7, 9].
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the US to respect China's core interests and uphold the One-China principle. Wang condemned what he called recent "negative actions" by the US. He said 2026 is a "big year" for China-US relations and highlighted their progress toward peaceful coexistence, emphasizing the need to implement leaders’ consensus to promote global peace and cooperation [4, 5, 10].
Rubio said they did not discuss recent US allegations accusing China of interfering in the 2020 US presidential election during the meeting [4, 6, 7, 8].
Both sides agreed to maintain and prepare for continued high-level exchanges following this meeting ahead of Xi Jinping's planned summit visit to the US on September 24, 2026 [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10].
