BANGKOK – The U.S. Senate confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state on Monday, unanimously voting in the Florida senator who sees China as the “biggest threat” to U.S. security, hours after the inauguration of Donald Trump for his second term as president.
Rubio is the first of Trump’s cabinet nominees to be confirmed by the Senate, which backed him 99-0.
“It’s an important job in an important time, and I’m honored by it,” Rubio said after his confirmation, the Associated Press reported.
Rubio’s confirmation hearing last week was dominated by questions about the direction the Trump administration would take on the “axis” of China, Russia and Iran.
Rubio saved his most strident criticism for China, which he said was America’s “biggest threat” and was seeking a world where America depends on it for economic necessities and bends to its will.
“If we stay on the road we’re on right now, in less than 10 years, virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it – everything from the blood pressure medicine we take to what movies we get to watch,” Rubio told the hearing.
“The Communist Party of China … is the most potent and dangerous near peer adversary this nation has ever confronted,” Rubio said.
There was no immediate reaction from China to Rubio’s confirmation.
Last week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, asked about Rubio’s confirmation hearing comments, said China would handle U.S. relations “in line with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation put forward by President Xi Jinping, and resolutely safeguard our own sovereignty, security, and development interests.”
“The U.S. needs to establish a right perception towards China, and stop its illegitimate attacks and smears on China,” the spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, told a regular briefing.
Rubio, 53, the son of immigrants from Cuba, is also a staunch supporter of Israel and harsh critic of the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
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Concern for Uyghurs
At his confirmation hearing, Rubio said he would use U.S. influence to promote human rights with U.S. allies in Southeast Asia.
Asked about the case of 48 Uyghurs who escaped what the U.S. government calls a “genocide” in China but have since been arrested in Thailand, Rubio said he would reach out to Bangkok to try to prevent their return to China.
“The good news is that Thailand is actually a very strong U.S. partner, a strong historical ally as well, and so that is an area where I think diplomacy could really achieve results, because of how important that relationship and how close it is,” he said.
Thailand has not confirmed that the 48, who have been held in detention facilities in Bangkok for a decade, will be sent to China.
The treatment of Uyghurs in China was not “some obscure issue” that should be on the sidelines of U.S.-China ties, he said.
“These are people who are basically being rounded up because of their ethnicity and religion, and they are being put into camps. They’re being put into what they call re-education centers. They’re being stripped of their identity. Their children’s names are being changed,” Rubio said.
“It’s one of the most horrifying things that’s ever happened,” he said, “They’re being put into forced labor – literally slave labor.”
Rubio said he would engage China earnestly on its treatment of Uyghurs – as with its “destabilizing” plans for Taiwan and the seas around the Philippines, which he said threatens an outbreak of conflict with U.S. forces – but was conscious of his new responsibilities.
“Indeed, I’ve been strongly worded in my views of China. Let me just point out they’ve said mean things about me too,” he said. Five years ago, he was one of 11 people sanctioned by Beijing in retaliation for a similar move by the U.S. on 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials, over China’s imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong.
Rubio said he was prepared to begin “engaging” China in “mature and prudent conversation” about the issues where the two countries disagree.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.