Rubio Tells Chinese Counterpart That US Interests Come First

Authored by Dorothy Li via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told his Chinese counterpart that the Trump administration will prioritize American interest in its relationship with communist China, according to the State Department.

Rubio conveyed this message during a phone call on Jan. 24 with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, marking his first publicly known formal exchange with Wang as the top U.S. diplomat.

Rubio emphasized that the Trump administration will pursue a relationship with China that “advances U.S. interests and puts the American people first,” according to the U.S. readout of the call.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the secretary “stressed the United States’ commitment to our allies in the region and serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan and in the South China Sea.”

According to a summary of the call issued by China’s foreign ministry, Wang told Rubio that teams from both sides should implement the consensus reached during last week’s conversation between the two countries’ leaders, which had “pointed out the direction” and “established the tone” for Sino–U.S. relations.

Wang reiterated the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) sovereignty claims over Taiwan, a self-ruled island that the regime has not ruled out using force to bring under its control.

Wang also issued a veiled warning to Rubio, who was placed on Beijing’s sanctions list twice in 2020 for his human rights advocacy, saying that he hoped Rubio would “act accordingly” and “play a constructive role for the future of the people of China and the United States,” according to a translation by the Chinese ministry.

Rubio characterized communist China as “the most potent and dangerous, near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted” during his Senate confirmation hearing last week.

Trump: US–China Relationship Needs to Be ‘Fair’

The conversation between the two countries’ top diplomats comes less than a week after President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term.

Trump had invited CCP leader Xi Jinping to his inauguration in the U.S. Capitol, but the regime chose to send deputy leader Han Zheng as its special envoy for the event.

Hours before his inauguration ceremony, Trump had a phone call with Xi that he later described as “very good” for both the United States and China.

The president told reporters later on the day that he had received an invitation to visit China and that a trip this year could be possible.

Earlier this week, Trump said that he believed under his administration, the United States will have “a very good relationship” with China.

“All we want is fairness. We just want a level playing field,” the president told the attendees of the World Economic Forum summit in Davos via a video link.

Highlighting the massive U.S. trade deficits with China, Trump said, “It’s just an unfair relationship, and we have to make it just fair.”

“We don’t have to make it phenomenal. We have to make it a fair relationship,” he said. “Right now. It’s not a fair relationship.”

The U.S. trade deficit with China reached $279.4 billion in 2023, according to the latest available data from the U.S. Commerce Department.

During his presidential campaign, Trump floated the idea of imposing tariffs as high as 60 percent on Chinese imports.

On Jan. 22, Trump said that an extra 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports could start as early as Feb. 1. The extra duties, according to the president, were based on the “fact that they’re sending fentanyl to Mexico and Canada.”