Donald Trump nominated Marco Rubio, distinguished by his strictness towards China, as the Secretary of State. According to Reuters, this is a signal to Beijing that the new administration’s tough policy toward China may go beyond tariffs and include tougher tools.
It is expected that the Senate will easily support Rubio’s nomination. Rubio holds senior positions in the Senate Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees.
Rubio, described in a Senate biography as “a leading figure in rebalancing relations with China,” is a leading critic of China’s economic practices. Chinese media often refer to him as an “anti-China pioneer”. In his latest report on China’s industrial policy, Rubio writes that “through theft, market-distorting subsidies and strategic planning, Beijing now leads many of the industries that will define geopolitical advantage in the 21st century.”
David Firestein, a former U.S. diplomat with expertise on China, said, “Rubio believes in his heart that China is an enemy of the United States.” He added, “That’s going to color everything he does with respect to China,” noting that Rubio’s view of zero-sum competition with China would “raise the decibel level” of U.S.-China relations.
One of the important China-related issues that Rubio focuses on is the human rights record in the People’s Republic. He was one of the supporters of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The act was intended to ban the import of Chinese products into the United States in response to violations of the rights of Muslim minorities in China. His open stance on the Uyghurs was one of the reasons why China sanctioned Rubio in 2020.
Interestingly, Rubio has twice been the target of sanctions from Beijing. In 2020, the People’s Republic sanctioned Rubio for his support of the Hong Kong demonstrations. Rubio would be the first US secretary of state to be subject to active travel restrictions from China. Notably, Rubio, in turn, called for US visa sanctions against Chinese officials. In 2023, Rubio urged the State Department to bar US-sanctioned Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee from attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco.
It is noteworthy that over the past years, Rubio has considered China a threat to US national security. He was one of the leading figures in the effort to blacklist a Chinese battery company, CATL. Rubio has advocated limiting tax benefits for American companies investing in China and tightening restrictions on the export of American technology to China.
It is noteworthy that Rubio accused China of facilitating the conflict in Ukraine, as he considered the Russian attack to be part of the Chinese strategy, which aims to replace the existing world order with the “Moscow-Beijing axis”. Therefore, he supported the legislative initiatives that aimed at reducing China’s political or economic influence.
Trump’s Secretary of State nominee’s strong support for Taiwan may be particularly uncomfortable for Beijing. Rubio supported a free trade agreement and unrestricted relations between US and Taiwan officials. Analysts predict that Taiwan will buy more weapons from the US during Trump’s presidency than before and will likely receive favorable terms from Rubio’s State Department.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not comment on Rubio’s nomination for secretary of state. Meanwhile, embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu expressed hope that Beijing would work with the new administration to promote the development of relations in a “stable, healthy, and sustainable direction”.
