Linguistic workaround permits Marco Rubio, sanctioned by Beijing, to journey to China for the primary time | Marco Rubio

US secretary of state Marco Rubio is heading to Beijing with president Donald Trump regardless of being beneath Chinese sanctions – a breakthrough that may have been made doable after China modified his identify’s transliteration.

As a US senator, Rubio, who’s visiting China for the primary time, fiercely championed human rights in China, which retaliated by imposing sanctions on him twice – adopting a tactic extra typically utilized by the US in opposition to adversaries.

But China seems to have discovered a diplomatic workaround after Trump named Rubio his secretary of state.

Shortly earlier than he took workplace in January 2025, the Chinese authorities and official media started utilizing a special Chinese character for “lu” to symbolize the primary syllable in his surname.

Two diplomats informed the AFP information company they believed that China made the change as a result of Rubio was beneath sanctions, which included an entry ban, beneath the outdated spelling of his identify.

China stated Tuesday it might not block Rubio for his previous actions.

“The sanctions target Mr Rubio’s words and deeds when he served as a US senator concerning China,” the Chinese embassy spokesperson, Liu Pengyu stated.

Asked concerning the linguistic change final yr, China’s international ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that she “had not noticed it but would look into it”, in line with Chinese state media. Mao stated that Rubio’s English identify was extra necessary.

It’s commonplace for western public figures to have a couple of Chinese transliteration of their names. The course of for translating western names into Chinese characters isn’t at all times standardised.

Trump additionally has two Chinese names. The Chinese authorities and state media name him telangpu however he’s additionally also known as chuanpu, a barely completely different transliteration.

Trump is ready to reach in Beijing on Wednesday for a state go to with Chinese chief Xi Jinping with commerce, Taiwan and AI all set to characteristic in discussions.

A state division official confirmed solely that Rubio was travelling with Trump. Rubio was seen boarding Air Force One at Andrews air pressure base.

Rubio, a Cuban-American who vociferously opposes communism, was the important thing writer of congressional laws that imposed vast sanctions on China over the alleged use of pressured labour by the largely Muslim Uyghur minority, and he has spoken out in opposition to Beijing’s clampdown in Hong Kong.

At his affirmation listening to as secretary of state, Rubio centered closely on China, which he described as an unprecedented adversary.

But since taking workplace, Rubio has supported Trump who describes counterpart Xi Jinping as a buddy and has centered on constructing a commerce relationship whereas downplaying human rights.

Last yr, nonetheless, Rubio introduced aid to Taiwan when he stated that the Trump administration wouldn’t negotiate over the self-governing democracy’s future to safe a commerce cope with China.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report