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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been targeted by Beijing for his comments on human rights in China while he was a senator.
He was even subject to sanctions at the time, including a ban on entry into the country. Theoretically, this would have prevented his visit to China with US President Donald Trump and other senior officials.
However, Beijing said on Tuesday that it would not prevent Rubio from entering the country on Air Force One with Trump.
"The sanctions target Rubio's statements and actions during his tenure as a US senator regarding China ," said Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu.
On this issue, China seems to have found a compromise solution since Trump appointed Rubio to the position of head of US diplomacy.
Shortly before he took office in January 2025, the Chinese government and official media began writing the first syllable of his surname with a different Chinese character, changing his name.
Two diplomats said they believed the name change was a way to avoid Chinese sanctions against the U.S. secretary of state. Furthermore, Rubio's travel ban remains in effect only under his old name.
Meanwhile, in a highly symbolic historical and geopolitical reference, Chinese President Xi Jinping brought the so-called "Thucydides Trap" back to the forefront during his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Beijing today.
Xi's remarks, at a time of intense competition between the world's two largest economies, have reignited debate about whether China's rise could lead to an inevitable conflict with the United States.
"Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap and create a new model of relations between major powers?" Xi Jinping asked before the start of talks with Trump, raising the question of whether the two countries can jointly address global challenges and bring more stability to the world.
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