The Chinese foreign minister said the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague was “orchestrated and manipulated by external powers” who wanted to “destabilise the South China Sea for their own benefit”.

KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday briefed reporters on his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Rubio here on Friday on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus foreign ministers’ meetings.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, the State Department said, their first in-person meeting at a time of simmering trade tensions between the two major powers.