Rubio to Attend ASEAN-Related Meeting in Manila Next Week

Tokyo (ANTARA) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be in Manila, Philippines, next week to attend a meeting related to ASEAN, the US Department of State said on Friday. Amid an energy crisis hitting Southeast Asia due to the US-Israel war with Iran, and China’s increasing presence in the region, Rubio’s focus will be on US efforts to forge closer ties between the US and ASEAN member states, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Rubio would travel to Manila from Sunday to Thursday. He said the visit aims to promote ‘a free and open Indo-Pacific that delivers safety, security, and prosperity for the region and for the American people.’ Rubio is expected to discuss key diplomatic issues with his regional counterparts attending the meeting. Attention is particularly focused on the possibility that Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold talks on the sidelines of the multilateral meeting as a precursor to their leaders’ summit scheduled for September in Washington. Despite intense geopolitical rivalry, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to stabilise US-China relations when they met in Beijing in mid-May. At that time, Trump and Xi also agreed to meet again on 24 September at the White House.