Chinese president's planned US trip remains on course, Rubio confirms

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to the United States remains on schedule despite recent tensions between Washington and Beijing, Bloomberg reports.

“We anticipate that the trip is happening in September,” Rubio told reporters before leaving 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.”

His remarks came after President Donald Trump accused China of interfering in the 2020 US election by stealing 220 million voter records, claims that US intelligence agencies have previously rejected.

The accusations surfaced just months before Xi’s expected trip to the US, which is seen as part of ongoing efforts by both sides to ease tensions and preserve a trade agreement reached last year.

By Jeyhun Aghazada