Why Marco Rubio’s name changed before his entry to China?
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in China Wednesday May 13, 2026 along with Donald Trump onboard Air Force 1 – the US President’s official carrier, but not before his name changed
Beijing: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in China Wednesday May 13, 2026 along with Donald Trump onboard Air Force 1 – the US President’s official carrier, but not before his name changed.
Marco Rubio’s arrival in China, however, needed a name change.
Why?
It is because Marco Rubio has been sanctioned by China twice. Besides other things, the Chinese sanctions against Marco Rubio also included travel ban to China.
China imposed sanctions on Rubio because of his criticism of China about, what he claimed, human rights violations in the country. Rubio made the allegations against China when he was a Senator.
According to The Guardian, the Chinese government and official media began using a different Chinese character for “lu” to represent the first syllable in Marco Rubio’s surname shortly before he took office in January 2025 as US Secretary of State.
A day before his scheduled visit, China said it would not block Rubio for 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.
The process for translating western names into Chinese characters is not always standardised. Therefore to have more than one Chinese transliteration of their names is common for western public figures.
Trump also has two Chinese names. The Chinese government and state media call him telangpu but he is also often referred to as chuanpu, a slightly different transliteration.
Leading a high level delegation, US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing Wednesday to a rousing welcome.
Trump’s agenda in China included a one-on-one meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping besides meetings and discussions on other matters.
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