Donald Trump’s new secretary of state met with his Australian, Indian and Japanese counterparts to discuss combating China’s rise.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off the Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts at a meeting of the Indo-Pacific group “Quad“, a group of countries brought together to counter the rise of China.
Rubio is known for his hardline stance on China, which he has called a“the most powerful, dangerous, and peer-to-peer adversary our nation has ever faced” during his confirmation hearing last week.
The former Florida senator was sanctioned by China twice for his remarks on human rights and Hong Kong.
The timing of this meeting suggests that the fight against China’s influence will remain an absolute priority for Donald Trump and his head of diplomacy.
The Quad was created in 2007 to bring together countries that had worked together in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, with security being only part of its role. Today, the group forms a key part of U.S. China policy.
Marco Rubio, whose nomination as secretary of state was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, will play a leading role in shaping Donald Trump’s foreign policy during his four-year term.
Speaking to State Department employees after his confirmation, he asked them to vigorously defend and implement the mantra “America First” of Donald Trump, affirming that the foreign policy of the United States would be centered “on one thing only, namely the promotion of our national interest”that’s to say “anything that makes us stronger, safer, or more prosperous.”
During his confirmation hearing, the former Florida senator spent much of his time painting a dark vision of what he calls the “unbalanced relationship” of the United States with China.
Although he addressed issues relating to the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe, Marco Rubio called China the main threat to US prosperity in the 21st century and called for a radical change of course in relations between Washington and Beijing.
He blamed America’s vulnerability to China on the shift to “globalism” and said the United States must put its national interests above everything else.
Donald Trump has promised to take a hard line on China as president, including threatening to impose massive tariffs on Chinese imports. He says the move is necessary to punish China for sending fentanyl, a deadly opioid drug, to the United States via Mexico and Canada.
China’s foreign ministry responded Wednesday by saying it would defend its “national interests” against such a threat, insisting that, according to him, “There are no winners in a trade war or a tariff war.”
Donald Trump also moved to suspend the ban on social media app TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. He threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese products if Beijing did not allow the popular app to be sold to an American owner.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said business operations and acquisitions “should be decided independently by businesses, in accordance with market principles.”
