Washington, May 15 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, once sanctioned and barred by Beijing over his criticism of China, appeared prominently at President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week after Chinese officials quietly adopted a different Chinese spelling of his name, according to a report by The Washington Post.
Rubio, a long-time China hawk and vocal critic of Beijing’s policies in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, travelled with Trump as part of the American delegation for the two-day summit in Beijing despite sanctions imposed on him by China in 2020.
The Washington Post reported that the Chinese state media and official records began using a different transliterated Chinese character for Rubio’s surname after Trump appointed him secretary of state in 2025. Rubio sat across from Chinese officials with a nameplate displaying the revised spelling.
Analysts cited by the newspaper suggested the change may have allowed Beijing to avoid formally lifting sanctions while still permitting Rubio’s visit.
“China is giving itself a way out of the awkward situation,” Zhang Jiadong, a former Chinese diplomat, told The Washington Post. “We can’t cancel the sanctions, because they were announced for a reason, but banning a secretary of state from entry could further damage bilateral ties. So we found a middle ground.”
Beijing reportedly distinguished between Rubio’s past role as a senator and his current office as America’s top diplomat. Chinese officials said earlier this year that the sanctions targeted Rubio’s “words and deeds when he served as a US senator”.
Rubio has for years been among the most outspoken critics of China in Washington. He repeatedly condemned Beijing’s crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and criticised its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. During his Senate years, China sanctioned Rubio alongside other American lawmakers and organisations amid escalating tensions between the two countries.
Yet during the Beijing summit, Rubio appeared central to Trump’s diplomatic outreach to China. He joined Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer during meetings with Xi at the Great Hall of the People and later accompanied Trump to the Zhongnanhai leadership compound.
Rubio also struck a notably more measured tone on China during interviews surrounding the summit.
“This week, Rubio struck a more balanced tone, saying China is ‘both our top political challenge geopolitically and it’s also the most important relationship for us to manage,’” The Washington Post reported.
The summit itself focused heavily on trade, Taiwan and Iran. Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Trump that mishandling Taiwan could create “clashes and even conflicts”, according to Chinese accounts of the talks cited by multiple US media outlets.
The episode involving Rubio highlighted the pragmatic adjustments both sides appear willing to make as Washington and Beijing attempt to stabilise relations after years of escalating confrontation over trade, technology, military competition and Taiwan.
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