China changes Marco Rubio's NAME to avert diplomatic crisis during US visit to Beijing
The Chinese Government is said to have changed the spelling of Marco Rubio's name in a bid to avert a diplomatic crisis during his crucial visit to Beijing with Donald Trump.
The spelling alteration is believed to be a “diplomatic workaround” to ensure the US Secretary of State can enter the country after the CCP slapped him with sanctions in 2020.
While serving in the Senate, Mr Rubio had accused President Xi Jinping's regime of carrying out human rights abuses against the country's Uyghur Muslim group.
The Republican's remarks led to China issuing a host of restrictions against him - including barring him from setting foot in the country.
However, the CCP have started rewriting the first syllable of his surname using a different Chinese letter once he was confirmed as Secretary of State last January.
The changes have been described as a "diplomatic workaround" for Beijing to avoid enforcing its own sanctions.
Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu told AFP: “The sanctions target Mr Rubio’s words and deeds when he served as a US senator concerning China."
When previously probed about the transliteration, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning claimed she "had not noticed it".
Mr Rubio is not the first Republican politician to have been sanctioned by the CCP.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz and New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith had sanctions placed on them at the same time as the Secretary of State in 2020.
Mr Trump's then-ambassador at large for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback, was also named on Beijing's red list after tensions flared up between China and the US over the human rights abuse allegations.
At the time, the CCP accused the American lawmakers of attempting to "interfere in China's internal affairs and harm China's interests".
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However, the Chinese sanctions came just one week after Washington issued their own against four Chinese officials and a CCP agency over alleged Uyghur mistreatment.
Tensions between Mr Trump and Mr Xi became particularly strained in 2020 after the US President blamed Beijing for the COVID-19 pandemic on a number of occasions.
The President touched down in Beijing on Wednesday evening, joined by an entourage of senior American business leaders, including tech billionaires Elon Musk and Jensen Huang.
The US President is set to meet with the Chinese leader on Thursday, with the pair expected to discuss trade and the ongoing war in Iran.
The Trump administration is said to be keen to push Beijing to help to bring the conflict to an end.
Mr Rubio told reporters on Wednesday that he wants the East Asian powerhouse to "play a more active role in trying to convince Iran to walk away from what they are doing in the Gulf".
China is particularly reliant on the Strait of Hormuz, with roughly half of all its total crude oil imports passing through the vital waterway.
Beijing is the Islamic Republic's largest trading partner, with the two nations signing a 25-year cooperation agreement in 2021, aimed at strengthening economic ties.
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