Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Beijing with President Donald Trump this week despite Chinese sanctions imposed on him in 2020.
The visit marks Rubio’s first trip to China. It comes after Chinese authorities altered the official transliteration of part of his name.
The Chinese government and state media began using a new Chinese character for Rubio’s surname shortly before he took office as secretary of state in January 2025. The change gives the impression that sanctions targeted a different “Rubio.”
Foreign names are often rendered in different Chinese characters, though the process is not strictly standardized. Trump himself is known by two separate spellings in Chinese media….