How China tweaked Rubio’s name to let him enter Beijing with Trump

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently in Beijing on a state visit despite being under Chinese sanctions. A question arises: how was Rubio able to enter China despite being sanctioned? According to The Guardian, this became possible thanks to a linguistic workaround employed by China.

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.

Shortly before Rubio assumed office as secretary of state in January 2025, the Chinese government and state media began using a different Chinese character with the same pronunciation for the first syllable of the surname “Rubio,” effectively altering the written form of his name.

Now, during US President Donald Trump’s visit to China, the Chinese government has announced that it will not block Rubio’s entry over his past actions.

“The sanctions target Mr Rubio’s words and deeds when he served as a US senator concerning China,” the Chinese embassy spokesperson, Liu Pengyu said.

Asked about the linguistic change last year, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that she “had not noticed it but would look into it”, according to Chinese state media. Mao said that Rubio’s English name was more important.