(TibetanReview.net, Jan22’25) –China has indicated that it would engage with the top US diplomat under the new Trump Administration who remains under its sanctions. Beijing sanctioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jul and Aug 2020, when he was a Senator, for condemning human rights abuses in East Turkestan (Xinjiang) and for his outspoken criticism of China’s human rights practices and his support for pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong.
China indicated that sanctions wouldn’t impact official exchanges, reported Bloomberg Jan 21, calling it a sign that Beijing seeks to negotiate with the Trump administration over trade and other disputes.
Earlier, China’s former Defence Minister Li Shangfu, who rose to that job while sanctioned by Washington, refused to hold talks with his US counterpart until such measures were lifted, although American officials claimed the restrictions didn’t prevent such a sitdown.
“We believe it is necessary for high-level officials of both countries to maintain contact in an appropriate manner,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun has said during a regular press briefing on Jan 21 in response to a question on whether China would consider lifting sanctions on the top US diplomat.
Rubio, a former Republican senator and prominent China critic, was the first of President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks to be approved by the Senate on Jan 20. He had pushed for laws to punish the Chinese government for its deplorable record on human rights, East Turkestan and Hong Kong, greatly angering China.
During his confirmation hearing on Jan 15, 2025, Rubio emphasized that China represented the “most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever faced.” He criticized the Chinese Communist Party for having “lied, cheated, hacked, and stolen their way to global superpower status at our expense.”
Rubio told Voice of America in December that he is confident in his ability “to find some solution” to engage with Beijing, the report noted.
The report said US-China relations were off to an unexpectedly warm start after Trump avoided committing to a plan for Chinese tariffs right after his inauguration. He also threw China-owned company ByteDance Ltd a lifeline, giving it 75 days to find a US partner. Such a deal would save the short-video app TikTok, which Trump used to reach young voters, from going dark in America.