A key focus of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Central America this week — his first trip as America’s top diplomat — will be to counter China’s growing influence in the region, the State Department’s top spokesperson said this week,

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Central America aims to counter China's growing influence. Amid President Trump's agenda to 'take back' the Panama Canal, concerns rise over U.S. intentions.

Secretary of State Rubio spoke with China's Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Commission and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's trip to Central America, including Panama, is partially about countering China, a State Department spokesperson told Fox Business, as new President Donald Trump is pushing to "take back" the Panama Canal.

In the telephone call, Rubio told Wang that the second Trump administration will pursue a relationship with China "that advances US interests and puts the American people first," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said. "The secretary also stressed ...

and China’s malign influence,” State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. The U.K. government said that Lammy and Rubio look forward to meeting in person soon.

With Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Rubio discussed North Korea and "joint efforts against China's destabilizing actions," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said. China has had rising friction with the Philippines, a US ally, as it stakes ...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed Washington's commitment to Manila and condemned Beijing for its "dangerous and destabilising" actions in the Sea, in his first phone call with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino ruled out discussing control of the Panama Canal with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he visits the Central American country. "I cannot negotiate and much less open a process of negotiation on the Canal,

Former U.S. senator from Florida Marco Rubio jumps into new role as secretary of state with flurry of phone calls, planned trip to Panama.

Such high-level communication includes a series of meetings held during Vice-President Han Zheng's trip to the US last week as Xi's special representative to attend Trump's inauguration ceremony. On Friday, Wang told Rubio the "two heads of state have pointed out the direction and set the tone for China-US relations".

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) stated that it detected six Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 am (local time) on Saturday and 6 am (local time) on Sunday.