Sanctioned by China, Rubio confident in engaging Beijing as US top diplomat

 

FILE – Senator Marco Rubio waves before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at an event in West Palm Beach, Florida, June 14, 2024.

STATE DEPARTMENT —

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a "substantive" face-to-face meeting Wednesday morning with Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who has been selected by President-elect Donald Trump as his nominee for the next U.S. secretary of state. The meeting comes as Trump’s team prepares for the transition process.

“It was a good, constructive and substantive conversation,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters during a briefing.

“We continue to stand ready to help support a seamless transition on January 20,” he added.

In August 2020, China sanctioned Rubio, a longtime critic of the government in Beijing, along with others, citing what it described as "egregious behavior" related to “Hong Kong-related issues.” Rubio told VOA earlier in December that he is confident in his ability “to find some solution” to engage with Beijing if confirmed.

When asked if he would maintain his previous stance on foreign policy issues, Rubio said, “The president sets foreign policy, and our job at the State [Department] will be to execute it.”

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Here is a look at Rubio’s past legislative actions and public statements on key China-related issues:

Securing US technologies

Rubio has warned that "Communist China is the most powerful adversary the United States has faced in living memory," in a September report titled “The World China Made.”

The report asserts that the Chinese Communist Party controls the world’s largest industrial base through "market-distorting subsidies" and "rampant theft.” Rubio urged a "whole-of-society effort" by U.S. lawmakers, CEOs, and investors to “rebuild our country, overcome the China challenge, and keep the torch of freedom lit for generations to come.”

Rubio has been a vocal critic of U.S.-China research collaborations, warning that taxpayer funds have unknowingly supported Chinese military-linked experiments in areas like stealth technology, semiconductors, and cybersecurity — potentially giving Beijing a strategic edge.

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In July, he introduced a bill to fortify U.S. research, with key provisions including the creation of a "TRUST" database to track high-risk Chinese research entities, stricter grant application transparency, and penalties for undisclosed foreign funding. The bill also enhances visa screening for individuals linked to adversarial foreign research and mandates stronger oversight of U.S.-China research partnerships.

Rubio has advocated for the bipartisan 2021 Secure Equipment Act, a law that prohibits the U.S. government from issuing new equipment licenses to Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE that the United States and other Western countries have deemed a national security risk.

Revoking China’s ‘most favored nation’ status

Rubio is among the Republican lawmakers who proposed a bill to revoke China\’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations, or PNTR, with the United States.

Commonly known as "most favored nation" status, PNTR means that Chinese goods being imported into the United States are granted the most advantageous terms that the country offers when it applies tariffs and other restrictions.

Introduced in September 2024, the Neither Permanent Nor Normal Trade Relations Act marks a shift toward a more protectionist U.S. trade strategy. The bill aims to impose higher tariffs on Chinese imports, strengthen supply chain resilience, and reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese goods.

One of the key provisions includes the establishment of a trust fund using tariff revenue to compensate U.S. industries harmed by China\’s retaliatory trade actions, with priority support for agriculture, semiconductor, and aerospace sectors.

Rubio outlined his position as early as a 2022 speech at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, calling the belief that free trade and globalization would change China "the single biggest geopolitical blunder of the last quarter century."

“For over two decades, China methodically undermined our economic strength by stealing our critical technology, our manufacturing capacity, and our jobs,” he argued.

Monitoring China\’s human rights record

Rubio also chaired the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, CECC, from 2017 to 2019 and continues to serve as a commissioner.

The CECC was established in 2000 in response to concerns that granting PNTR to China would eliminate Congress\’s ability to annually review and debate China\’s human rights record. The commission monitors China’s compliance with international human rights standards and maintains a list of victims of human rights abuses.

Rubio has criticized China’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, introduced bills to ban imports linked to forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and expanded sanctions on Uyghur human rights abusers.

The Florida senator has also supported U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and efforts to enhance its global standing.

He has met with Hong Kong’s pro-democracy activists and has been a staunch advocate for their movement. He introduced the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which was signed into law in 2019.

Rubio also headed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, signed into law in 2020, which imposed sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Xinjiang. With the law\’s sanctions set to expire in 2025, Rubio introduced the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Reauthorization Act of 2024 in June, sponsored by CECC co-chair Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, to extend key provisions for another five years, ensuring continued U.S. support for the human rights of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in China.

On April 10, 2024, Rubio and Merkley introduced a resolution reaffirming the U.S. commitment to Taiwan\’s vibrant democracy and recognizing the 45th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act – a landmark U.S. public law that has guided U.S.-Taiwan relations since 1979. The TRA, as it is called, outlines U.S. policy to provide Taiwan with defensive arms and commits Washington to provide Taipei with the capacity to resist coercion or force that could threaten its security or economic system.

Rubio has been a vocal critic of China’s increasing economic, military, and political coercion against Taiwan. He has introduced bills aimed at bolstering deterrence in the Taiwan Strait and led legislation to facilitate visits between U.S. and Taiwanese officials, such as the Taiwan Travel Act, which President Trump signed into law in 2018.

The law is considered a substantial upgrade to U.S.-Taiwan relations, as it removed previous restrictions on travel for officials.

The Communist Party-led People’s Republic of China has never governed Taiwan but claims sovereignty over the self-ruled democracy. China has not ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.

 

By：VOA