Could a U.S.-China summit take place in September? Rubio and Wang Yi likely to meet in Manila today

[Financial News] Marco Rubio, United States Secretary of State, and Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China and director of the Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office, are expected to meet in Manila, The Philippines, on July 22 local time. The talks are seen as a pre-meeting coordination session that could determine whether a summit between President of the United States Donald Trump and President of China Xi Jinping, reportedly planned for September, will materialize.
According to foreign media reports on the 21st, an official from the United States Department of State said Rubio and Wang will hold a bilateral meeting in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting.
The two sides are expected to focus on the schedule and agenda for a summit between Trump and Xi. Trump recently said publicly that Xi would visit the United States on September 24, but the Chinese government has not yet officially confirmed it.
Before attending the ASEAN meeting, Rubio also told reporters, "There is no reason to believe they will not come," expressing hope that Xi's visit to the United States would proceed as planned.
Still, some expect the path to a summit will not be smooth. Trump and Xi held a summit in Beijing in May and found common ground on expanding economic cooperation, but they failed to narrow their differences on key security issues, including Taiwan.
Trump also recently revived allegations that China interfered in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, creating a new source of tension. China has flatly denied the allegations.
Speaking to reporters at The White House on the same day, Trump suggested the issue could come up at the meeting, saying, "We will discuss this issue with China."

[email protected] Kim Kyung-min Reporter