US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, on the sidelines of meetings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This meeting comes less than a week after President Donald Trump accused China of the “largest compromise of election data in history,” alleging in a televised address that Beijing illicitly obtained over 200 million US voter records.

However, Trump has since softened his tone regarding the alleged interference. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, he said, “We’re going to talk to them about it,” and noted that the interference “took place a long time ago” and that China might be “a little bit different today than it was then.” He added, “They do things to us and we do things to them. I’ll be honest, we do things to them too.”

China’s embassy in Washington responded by stating that Beijing adheres to the “principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs.”

People familiar with the planning told the South China Morning Post that the Rubio-Wang meeting is expected to address these tensions amid broader diplomatic discussions.

Sources