US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state Marco Rubio is one of a trio of China hawks whom Donald Trump has tapped for senior roles, including Mike Waltz, who will be appointed Trump's national security adviser, and Elise Stefanik, nominated for ambassador to the United Nations.

In 2018, Rubio co-sponsored the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which seeks to deny entry into the United States to any Chinese officials who prohibit US citizens from entering Tibet, a territory claimed by China.

He has also introduced legislation sanctioning China for its repression of the minority Uyghur population and the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong. The Chinese government responded by blacklisting Rubio.

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"He will be a strong advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our allies, and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries," Trump wrote about Rubio on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Rubio, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and called Trump a "third-world strongman" during that campaign, has a long record of promoting democracy and human rights in Southeast Asia.

In 2022, he stated that "the Hun Sen dictatorship destroyed democracy in Cambodia and allowed the nation to be exploited by the Chinese Communist Party," in reference to Cambodia's former prime minister, who is now president of the Senate.

Rubio........

© Deutsche Welle