Why Rubio’s Asia Visit Was a Total Bust

U.S. Secretary of State Rubio meets Chinese Foreign Minister Wang at ASEAN

This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that he had “positive and constructive” talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, amid tensions over tariffs and trade. Rubio was in Malaysia on his first Asia trip since taking office, looking to stress U.S. commitment to the region at the East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum, as countries receive…

Marco Rubio’s Asia Visit Was a Total Bust

“Marco Rubio’s first visit to the Indo-Pacific as secretary of state last week was an entirely forgettable, regrettable affair,” Foreign Policy reports. “The original plan was for Rubio to travel to Japan and South Korea—key U.S. security allies—to shore up increasingly strained ties, not least due to President Donald Trump’s threat to impose paralyzing tariffs on Aug. 1 if the two countries do not agree to new bilateral trade agreements by then…

Why Rubio’s Asia Visit Was a Total Bust

ASEAN leaders will have noticed Washington’s increasing preoccupation with the Middle East and Western Hemisphere.

Rubio’s Reassurances to ASEAN Ring Hollow

It was a visit designed to reassure. Yet when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Kuala Lumpur for his first ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference last week, his message was already undercut by Washington’s latest salvo of tariffs. While Rubio sought to distance himself from the Trump administration’s trade decisions, the contrast between his warm rhetoric and the hard edge of protectionist policy left ASEAN leaders unconvinced. The paradox…