Rubio: US-China must keep talking to avoid conflict

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “significant irritants” remained in the US-China relationship but that Washington and Beijing needed to keep talking to stop flashpoints from erupting.

At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rubio said both countries – the world’s two largest economies and most powerful militaries – must communicate to “de-escalate potential points of conflict that could lead to something broader”.

“The Chinese government and the US government have to speak. There’s really not a choice here,” he said at the hearing on the State Department’s budget.

“There are obviously very significant irritants in our relationship with China. Some of these are long-term problems that we know we’re going to have to address,” he added.

“So what we’re trying to do is manage a period of strategic stability while recognising that there are areas of our relationship in which we are going to have struggles, not just for years but perhaps for decades.”

Rubio’s remarks offered a clear read on where US-China relations stand and the strains weighing on them, coming just weeks after US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.