Top US, China Diplomats Meet in Philippines Ahead of Summit

Americans detained in China, trade and investment boards, and South China Sea tensions were among the issues discussed during the meeting.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila, on July 22, 2026. Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that he spoke with his Chinese counterpart about Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit to Washington, U.S. citizens detained in China, and trade and investment cooperation.

“We talked a lot about the visit in September, and that was really the gist of it,” Rubio told reporters after a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila, in which top diplomats attended a gathering hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Rubio said the sit-down was intended to lay “the groundwork for another positive visit.”

President Donald Trump has said Chinese leader Xi would visit Washington on Sept. 24, a plan later confirmed by Wang, who said Xi would make a state visit this autumn.

Last week, Trump publicly accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of meddling in the 2020 election by illicitly obtaining 220 million U.S. voter files.

Rubio said the CCP’s alleged actions did not come up during his meeting with Wang.

While acknowledging “great differences” between Beijing and Washington, Rubio noted their jobs are to manage these differences “so that they never get out of control.”

“We’re obviously going to always defend our national interest,” Rubio told reporters.

“And I expect they'll do the same as they define it, but I think there are some areas of potential cooperation.”

Americans Detained in China

Rubio confirmed he also raised the plight of U.S. citizens detained by the CCP, including Chen Youlin, an American seismologist who has been held in the country for two years without trial.

“We always raise the case of Americans. We do so outside of these meetings as well,” Rubio said when asked about Chen and U Min Zin, another U.S. citizen detained by the Chinese authorities.

Chen was arrested at a Beijing airport in November 2024 as he was preparing to return to Boston, according to the Foley Foundation, a nonprofit advocating for American hostages and wrongful detainees abroad. It noted that Beijing’s State Security Bureau accused Chen of engaging in espionage activities related to his research for U.S. government-funded projects.

The State Department has classified Chen as wrongfully detained by the Chinese authorities.

Youlin Chen in Iceland in August 2018. Yufang Rong via AP

The revelation of Chen’s detention came weeks after Beijing confirmed the arrest of Min Zin, an American scholar of Burma, also known as Myanmar, on suspicion of spying.

Min Zin was arrested in early June after traveling to China to attend a state-sponsored academic conference at which he was invited to speak.

When asked whether he expected China to release the two men ahead of the leaders’ September meeting, Rubio replied, “We want them to.”

He added, “Those are always a priority, and we’ve had good news in the past, and hope to have some good news in the future.”

Trade 

Rubio said that Washington and Beijing are moving toward establishing the boards of trade and investment—mechanisms to manage the trade, investment, and related issues that both sides agreed to implement during Trump’s visit to Beijing in mid-May.

“I think that’s one of the potential concrete deliverables that we can have before September when that visit happens,” Rubio said.

Philippine navy personnel and Chinese coast guard personnel clash near a grounded Philippine warship at Second Thomas Shoal, in the South China Sea, on July 20, 2026. cnsphoto via Reuters

South China Sea, Taiwan

The bilateral meeting came amid rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. On July 20, U.S. ally the Philippines accused Chinese coast guard personnel of attacking a sailor with a wooden baton during a violent encounter in the South China Sea, prompting Beijing and Manila to summon each other’s ambassadors.

The clash also sparked concerns among neighboring countries, the European Union, and the United States. The State Department has reiterated support for Manila and called on the CCP to cease its “destabilizing conduct.”

When asked about the South China Sea incident, Rubio said it was an “escalatory” action that benefits no one.

“We’ve reiterated in every meeting we’ve had that the U.S. has a treaty arrangement with the Philippines,” he said. “We intend to live up to our treaty obligations, and I think we’ve done so, and will continue to do so.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C) looks on during a bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila, on July 22, 2026. Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Regarding the CCP’s deployment of the coast guard vessels to pressure Taiwan, Rubio said such moves run counter to the spirit of “strategic stability” that the leaders of both countries have agreed to work toward.

Earlier on Wednesday, Rubio sat down with foreign ministers of the Quad group—comprising the United States, Australia, India and Japan—in the Philippine capital, where they discussed the nations’ shared priorities of maritime and transnational security, economic security, emerging technologies, humanitarian assistance, and emergency response.

In a joint statement issued following the meeting, the ministers reaffirmed commitment to “strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific” and their “unwavering support for ASEAN unity and centrality.”

“We are united in our conviction that peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific maritime domain underpin the security and prosperity of the region,” they said.