US, China must manage ‘great differences’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he discussed with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi the need to identify areas of cooperation to lay the groundwork for a “very positive visit” to Washington in September by President Xi Jinping.

Meeting with Wang in Manila on the sidelines of a regional gathering led by the Southeast Asian bloc Asean yesterday, Rubio said both sides had differences, but their job was to manage them and ensure they do not get out of control.

“The work we need to do now in September is to identify what those areas are, so that we can lay the groundwork for a very positive visit … we talked a lot about that,” he told reporters.

“There are areas of great differences. Both sides will acknowledge that. We’ll have to work through those, and I think these differences will exist for the foreseeable future.”

“We’re obviously always going to defend our national interest, and I expect they’ll do the same as they define it, but I think there are some areas of potential cooperation,” he added.

Wang did not speak to media immediately after the meeting and China had yet to issue a statement on the talks with Rubio.

Their talks, which lasted about 90 minutes, came amid a fragile truce between the world’s biggest economies that could be complicated by President Donald Trump’s accusations of Chinese meddling in US elections, which Beijing has called “pure fabrication”.

Rubio said the allegations of election interference were not discussed with Wang.

Tense US-China relations have been more stable under a temporary trade accord reached by Trump and Xi in October. The two leaders met in May in Beijing, and China said Xi would make a state visit to the United States in the autumn.

Taiwan and trade issues with China were discussed, Rubio said, as well as the bilateral Board of Trade, adding that it was important both countries can talk irrespective of differences.

“It would frankly be reckless and irresponsible for the US and China not to have a relationship, given the impact our countries have on the global economy and on the world,” he said.

In an opinion piece published by the Philippine media ahead of the meeting, Rubio criticised Beijing’s conduct in the South China Sea, saying regional US allies faced “new and coercive threats”.

Asked about Monday’s altercation between China’s coast guard and Philippine navy personnel, Rubio said it was an escalation that benefited no one.