U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to China together with President Donald Trump despite previously imposed Chinese sanctions. Media reports have emerged claiming that China allegedly changed the transliteration of his name to bypass its own restrictions. This was reported by AFP and several international media outlets.
Source: Gazeta.UA
According to journalists, Rubio, who as a U.S. senator had strongly supported sanctions against China and criticized human rights violations, was twice included in Beijing’s sanctions lists, which included a ban on entry.
At the same time, after his appointment as Secretary of State in 2025, the Chinese side reportedly began using a different spelling of his name in Chinese characters, which effectively allowed the formal restrictions to be bypassed.
It is also reported that Rubio flew to Beijing on board the presidential aircraft Air Force One as part of the U.S. delegation.
The U.S. State Department and the Chinese embassy have not officially commented on these details.
Rubio has previously repeatedly called China a strategic rival of the United States and supported legislative initiatives for sanctions related to Beijing’s policies on Uyghurs and Hong Kong.
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