The Chinese president’s planned trip to the US and the Beijing-Manila South China Sea dispute led the agenda when the top Chinese and American diplomats met in the Philippines on Wednesday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in the Philippine capital, Manila, for 90 minutes of talks on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ meeting, which ends on Thursday.
According to a readout published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, Wang described the meeting as “pragmatic, positive and constructive”, and urged both sides to pursue “strategic stability” and “peaceful coexistence”.
Without explicitly mentioning the issue, Wang said he had conveyed China’s position on the “recent series of negative words and actions by the US” and called on Washington to respect China’s core interests.
“Our responsibility now is to follow the path set by the two heads of state, eliminate interference and overcome obstacles, and ensure that the consensus reached by the leaders is translated into consensus and action across the entire government and all sectors,” Wang was quoted as saying.
Rubio also said there were still differences between the two countries but that their job was to manage them.
He added that there were areas of potential cooperation, and they discussed President Xi Jinping’s planned trip to the US, according to Reuters.
