U.S. Secretary of State Rubio Heads to Manila for Asia-Pacific Meetings, Expected to Discuss Potential Trump-Xi Summit

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to Manila on July 19, 2026, for ASEAN-linked meetings. Rubio is expected to hold unconfirmed but highly anticipated talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to prepare for a potential September 24 summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The diplomatic gathering occurs amid global instability, with the Iran war disrupting Asian energy imports through the Strait of Hormuz, alongside regional friction over South China Sea claims, Myanmar's civil war, and illicit Southeast Asian scam centers.

Rubio Manila diplomatic visit

• ▪United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
• ▪Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and foreign ministers from Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom are expected to attend the Manila meetings.
• ▪United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Manila on July 19, 2026, to participate in Asia-Pacific diplomatic meetings.

Trump-Xi September summit preparations

• ▪United States President Donald Trump stated he expects to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping around September 24, 2026, coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
• ▪United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to prepare for a potential September 2026 summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
• ▪The United States and China have not officially confirmed whether a bilateral meeting between Marco Rubio and Wang Yi will take place during the Manila forum.

South China Sea tensions

• ▪Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesperson Dominic Xavier Imperial stated that ASEAN and China remain committed to negotiating a substantive and effective code of conduct for the South China Sea.
• ▪The Manila meetings will address territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where China claims the majority of the waterway against overlapping claims by regional countries.

Iran war Asia impact

• ▪Approximately 80 percent of the hydrocarbons passing through the Strait of Hormuz are bound for Asian countries.
• ▪The ongoing war involving Iran is disrupting global trade and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, causing economic stress and fuel concerns across Asia.

Myanmar ASEAN engagement

• ▪ASEAN foreign ministers called on their Myanmar counterpart on July 12, 2026, to make concrete progress on a peace plan to end the country's civil war.
• ▪ASEAN foreign ministers held informal, face-to-face talks with Myanmar's foreign minister, marking the first such in-person meeting since the 2021 military coup.

Southeast Asian scam centers

• ▪CSIS Southeast Asia expert Andreyka Natalegawa identified Southeast Asian scam centers as a likely focus of discussion during the regional meetings.
• ▪The Trump administration plans to address Southeast Asian scam centers, which officials state are costing American citizens billions of dollars annually.