Linguistic workaround allows Marco Rubio, sanctioned by Beijing, to travel to China for the first time

Chinese government appears to be using the workaround of a different character to represent part of the secretary of state’s name, to allow him to visit the country for the Trump summit US secretary of state Marco Rubio is heading to Beijing with president Donald Trump despite being under Chinese sanctions – a breakthrough that might have been made possible after China changed his name’s transliteration. As a US senator, Rubio, who is visiting China for the first time, fiercely championed human rights in China, which retaliated by imposing sanctions on him twice – adopting a tactic more often used by the US against adversaries. But China appears to have found a diplomatic workaround after Trump named Rubio his secretary of state. Shortly before he took office in January 2025, the Chinese government and official media began using a different Chinese character for “lu” to represent the first syllable in his surname. Two diplomats told the AFP news agency they believed that China made the change because Rubio was under sanctions, which included an entry ban, under the old spelling of his name. China said Tuesday it would not block Rubio for his past actions. “The sanctions target Mr R