China Signals Willingness to Speak With Sanctioned Marco Rubio

(Bloomberg) -- China indicated that sanctions on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wouldn’t impact official exchanges, in a sign that Beijing seeks to negotiate with the Trump administration over trade and other disputes.

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“We believe it is necessary for high-level officials of both countries to maintain contact in an appropriate manner,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said during a regular press briefing on Tuesday in response to a question on whether China would consider lifting sanctions on the top US diplomat.

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Rubio, a former Republican senator and prominent China critic, was the first of President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks to be approved by the Senate on Monday. China sanctioned him twice in 2020 over his criticism of Beijing’s handling of Hong Kong and Xinjiang as well as his push for laws to punish the Chinese government for it.

Sanctions have prevented some communications between the world’s leading powers. China’s former Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who rose to that job while sanctioned by Washington, refused to hold talks with his US counterpart until such measures were lifted, although American officials claimed the restrictions didn’t prevent such a sitdown.

Rubio told Voice of America in December that he is confident in his ability “to find some solution” to engage with Beijing.

US-China relations were off to an unexpectedly warm start after Trump avoided committing to a plan for Chinese tariffs right after his inauguration. He also threw China-owned company ByteDance Ltd a lifeline, giving it 75 days to find a US partner. Such a deal would save video app TikTok, which Trump used to reach young voters, from going dark in America.

--With assistance from Josh Xiao.

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