US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, together with President Donald Trump, went to China for talks with the country's leader Xi Jinping, but the Chinese side previously changed the spelling of his last name to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Rubio by Beijing.
This was reported by US diplomats to AFP, the Guardian and RFI report.
After Rubio was appointed Secretary of State, China began to use a different character for the first syllable of his last name. Thus, the spelling of the name was changed to formally remove him from sanctions.
China imposed the sanctions after Rubio, while a US senator, advocated for restrictions against Beijing over the alleged use of forced labor by the Uighur Muslim minority. He also criticized the actions of the Chinese authorities in Hong Kong.
During his confirmation hearings for the post of Secretary of State, Rubio called China an "unprecedented adversary." At the same time, after taking office, he supported Trump's course of developing trade relations with Beijing. Trump himself has repeatedly called Xi Jinping a friend.
What is known about Marco Rubio's tracksuit
Meanwhile, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung published a photo of Rubio aboard Air Force One. In the photo, the Secretary of State was wearing a Nike Tech suit, similar to the one worn by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during his detention by the US military in January of this year.
"Secretary Rubio rocking the Nike Tech 'Venezuela' on Air Force One!" Cheung wrote under the photo.
As a reminder, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced that Trump will visit China on May 13-15 at the invitation of Xi Jinping.
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