US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will accompany Donald Trump to Beijing, although China has imposed sanctions on him. The way was opened for him by an inconspicuous change in the spelling of his surname.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Beijing with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, despite China imposing sanctions on him some time ago. According to the AFP agency, Rubio’s visit to Beijing was made possible by the change in the Chinese transcription of his surname, writes TASR.
- Marco Rubio is traveling with Donald Trump to Beijing despite Chinese sanctions.
- China made Rubio’s visit possible by changing the Chinese transcription of his surname.
- The original Chinese sanctions against Rubio were tied to the old transcription of the name.
- In Congress, Rubio pushed for tough sanctions on Uyghur forced labor.
- As secretary of state, Rubio now supports Trump’s softer policy toward China.
Even as a senator in the US Congress, Rubio often criticized human rights violations in China. Beijing responded by imposing sanctions, including a ban on entry into China.
Changing the spelling of the name
AFP reported that shortly before Rubio took over as minister in January 2025, the Chinese government and state media began using a different character for the first syllable of Rubio’s surname in Chinese.
According to the unnamed diplomats, China made this change apparently because the sanctions, including the entry ban, were tied to the original transcription of Rubio’s name.
Rubio and sanctions against China
The Chinese embassy in the US did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Rubio, who comes from a Cuban family and is strongly opposed to communism, was one of the main authors of legislation in the US Congress imposing sweeping sanctions against China for its alleged use of forced labor by members of the Uyghur Muslim minority. He also criticized Beijing’s interventions against Hong Kong. During his Senate confirmation hearing, he called China an unprecedented adversary of the United States.
Trump’s policy is retreating
However, since taking office, Rubio has supported Trump’s policy toward Beijing. Trump repeatedly refers to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a friend and focuses mainly on trade relations; human rights issues in China are taking a backseat to the Trump administration’s agenda, AFP reported.
