US Senator Marco Rubio, US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, on Wednesday said that a “dangerous” China cheated its way to superpower status, as he vowed to ramp up support to deter an invasion of Taiwan.
Rubio laid out his worldview to fellow senators at a confirmation hearing that took place just as Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in their 15-month war, a long-sought goal of US President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration.
Rubio, who is expected to secure confirmation easily, described China as “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever faced” and warned of drastic impacts if the US does not act.
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“If we stay on the road we’re on right now, in less than 10 years virtually everything that matters to us in life will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not — everything from the blood pressure medicine we take to what movies we get to watch,” Rubio said.
He vowed to ramp up the defenses of Taiwan to prevent a “cataclysmic military intervention.”
“We need to wrap our head around the fact that unless something dramatic changes, like an equilibrium [between China and Taiwan], where they conclude that the costs of intervening in Taiwan are too high, we’re going to have to deal with this before the end of this decade,” Rubio said.
Trump had raised questions during his campaign over Taiwan by insisting it does not pay enough for its own defense — similar criticism he has made of NATO allies.
Rubio distanced himself from talk of exiting NATO, but said the US needed to ask whether to retain “the primary defense role” in the alliance or be a “backstop to aggression,” with Europeans taking more responsibility.
A staunch backer of Ukraine after its invasion by Russia nearly three years ago, Rubio has allied with Trump in promising “bold diplomacy” that would require concessions on both sides.
“This war has to end, and I think it should be the official policy of the United States that we want to see it end,” Rubio said, a shift from Biden’s approach of supporting Ukraine through victory.
Rubio also backed the diplomacy that reached the Gaza ceasefire, but made it clear that he would staunchly back Israel, after Biden’s occasional criticism of the toll to civilians.
“How can any nation-state on the planet coexist side by side with a group of savages like Hamas?” he said.
Rubio rejected a key tenet of Biden’s foreign policy — prioritizing a rules-based, US-led “liberal world order” — in favor of Trump’s belief in “America First.”
“The post-war global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us,” he said.
“We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into this global order, and they took advantage of all its benefits, but they ignored all its obligations and responsibilities,” Rubio said.
“Instead, they have lied, cheated, hacked and stolen their way to global superpower status, at our expense,” he said.
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
BOOST IN CONFIDENCE: The sale sends a clear message of support for Taiwan and dispels rumors that US President Donald Trump ‘sold out’ the nation, an expert said The US government on Thursday announced a possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet parts, which was estimated to cost about US$330 million, in a move that an expert said “sends a clear message of support for Taiwan” amid fears that Washington might be wavering in its attitude toward Taipei. It was the first announcement of an arms sale to Taiwan since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year. The proposed package includes non-standard components, spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, as well repair and return support for the F-16, C-130 and Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft,
CHECKING BOUNDARIES: China wants to disrupt solidarity among democracies and test their red lines, but it is instead pushing nations to become more united, an expert said The US Department of State on Friday expressed deep concern over a Chinese public security agency’s investigation into Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) for “secession.” “China’s actions threaten free speech and erode norms that have underpinned the cross-strait ‘status quo’ for decades,” a US Department of State spokesperson said. The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau late last month listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into alleged “secession-related” criminal activities, including his founding of the Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that prepares people for an invasion by China. The spokesperson said that the US was “deeply concerned” about the bureau investigating Shen
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
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