United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that he had “positive and constructive” talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as the two major powers vied to push their agendas in Asia at a time of tension over Washington’s tariff offensive.

The top US diplomat was in Malaysia on his first Asia trip since taking office, seeking to stress US commitment to the region at the East Asia Summit and the Regional Forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), where many countries were reeling from a raft of steep US tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump this week.

Rubio had his first in-person talks with the Chinese foreign minister, which came after Beijing warned the US against reinstating hefty levies on its goods next month and threatened retaliation against nations that strike deals with the US to cut China out of supply chains.

Wang has sharply criticised Washington during talks with Asian counterparts in Malaysia, calling the US tariffs “typical unilateral bullying behaviour”.

But both sides described the bilateral meeting as positive and constructive and Rubio said the odds of Trump meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping were high.

“We’re two big, powerful countries, and there are always going to be issues that we disagree on. I think there’s........

© Dawn Business