Rubio says Xi still set to visit US after Trump speech on Chinese election fraud

WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Xi Jinping’s upcoming trip to America remains on track, days after President Donald Trump’s claims of Chinese election fraud threatened to upend the truce.

“We anticipate that the trip is happening in September,” he told reporters, before departing for a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Manila.

“They continue to send over their teams to prepare for it. I’ve heard nothing otherwise.”

Trump last week accused the Chinese government of interfering with US elections in 2020 by stealing 220 million voter files – claims American intelligence agencies have previously debunked.

When asked on the evening of July 19 if there would be consequences for Beijing’s alleged actions, he told reporters: “We’re going to see. We’ll be speaking to them.”

Trump made the allegations months ahead of a planned visit by the Chinese leader to the US. The trip is part of broader efforts to stabilise ties and maintain a trade truce struck in 2025.

That visit is the second of potentially four meetings between the two men in 2026 after Trump’s high-profile visit to Beijing in May.

Ahead of Xi’s trip, fresh tensions are emerging between the world’s largest economies around visas and artificial intelligence.

Trump revived a 90-day restriction on visas for Chinese journalists that he sought at the end of his first term but that former president Joe Biden scrapped before it became law.

Xi last week presided over the creation of a new group of nearly 30 countries for setting global AI rules that does not include the US. This came as Chinese AI start-up Moonshot announced its new Kimi K3 model, upending conventional wisdom over the US lead in the technology on China.

The ASEAN summit this week will give Rubio a chance to speak with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ahead of the leaders’ meeting, as well as other regional counterparts from countries including Japan and South Korea.

“When you have two big, powerful countries like the United States and China, there are always going to be irritants,” Rubio said.

“But I think it’s incumbent on powerful, important countries like ours to continue to talk and have a relationship.” BLOOMBERG