U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, their first in-person meeting at a time of simmering trade tensions between the two major powers, APA reports citing Reuters.
Washington's top diplomat is in Malaysia on his first trip to Asia since taking office, attending the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum alongside counterparts from Japan, China, South Korea, Russia, Australia, India, the European Union and Southeast Asian states.
His meeting with Wang comes amid escalating friction globally over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs offensive, with China this week warning the United States against reinstating hefty levies on its goods next month.
Beijing has also threatened to retaliate against nations that strike deals with the United States to cut China out of supply chains.
Rubio's visit is part of an effort to renew U.S. focus on the Indo-Pacific region and look beyond conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have consumed much of the Trump administration's attention.
But that has been overshadowed by this week's announcement of steep U.S. tariffs on many Asian countries and U.S. allies that include 25% on Japan,
South Korea and Malaysia, 32% for Indonesia, 36% for Thailand and Cambodia and 40% on Myanmar and Laos.
Analysts said Rubio would be looking to press the case that the United States remains a better partner than China, Washington's main strategic rival, during the visit. The State Department said Rubio met counterparts of Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia on Friday.
A day earlier, he told Southeast Asian foreign ministers the Indo-Pacific remained a focal point of U.S. foreign policy.
China, initially singled out with tariffs exceeding 100%, has until August 12 to reach a deal with the White House to keep Trump from reinstating additional import curbs imposed during tit-for-tat tariff exchanges in April and May.
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