(Washington) The question of the rivalry between Beijing and Washington was at the center of Wednesday’s hearing in the Senate by Marco Rubio, the head of diplomacy designated by Donald Trump.
Before the Foreign Affairs Committee, the 53-year-old probable future Secretary of State affirmed that China was “the most powerful and dangerous adversary that the United States has had to face” in its history, equipped with “elements that the Soviet Union never possessed”.
The current senator from Florida, whose nomination should be easily confirmed by the Senate, accused China of having “cheated” in order to achieve the status of global superpower.
“We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into this world order” after the Cold War, and “they took all their benefits, but they ignored all their duties and responsibilities,” he said.
Marco Rubio also rejected the central paradigm in the diplomacy of the outgoing Joe Biden administration: prioritizing a world order based on international norms, where the United States strives to maintain leadership.
Instead, Donald Trump’s slogan – “America first” – will be applied.
For Marco Rubio, the post-Cold War world order is not only “obsolete”, but has become “now a weapon used” against the United States.
“Cataclysmic”
Born in Miami to Cuban parents, Marco Rubio is known for his hostile positions against China and Iran, and for his unwavering support for Israel.
“If we stay on the path we are currently on, in less than ten years almost everything that matters to us will depend on whether China will allow us to have it or not,” he asserted.
PHOTO ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Marco Rubio, the head of diplomacy designated by Donald Trump
According to Marco Rubio, to prevent an invasion of Taiwan by China, the United States must show Beijing that the price to pay would be “too high”.
China and Taiwan have coexisted since 1949 with separate governments, but Beijing claims the island as an integral part of its territory and does not rule out using force to take control of it.
Marco Rubio promised on Wednesday that the United States would help strengthen Taiwan’s defenses, in order to prevent a “cataclysmic military intervention”.
“Unless there is a dramatic change,” the world will face this problem “before the end of the decade,” he said.
The senator also said he supported the diplomatic means implemented to reach the ceasefire agreement in Gaza on Wednesday, but reiterated his unwavering support for Israel.
“How can a nation-state on the planet coexist, side by side, with a group of savages like Hamas? “, he said.
“Bold diplomacy”
Even before taking office on January 20, Donald Trump is already shaking up the international order by mistreating the allies of the United States.
He has already threatened to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, but also the Panama Canal, control of which was ceded by the United States two decades ago.
As Secretary of State, Marco Rubio will be responsible for implementing Donald Trump’s slogan: “peace through strength”, an old realpolitik concept that the president-elect wants to bring up to date.
The war in Ukraine is expected to be another important part of his mandate.
Since the election of Donald Trump on November 5, Europeans have feared a disengagement of the United States from this conflict, or even American pressure for an agreement to the detriment of Kyiv.
Marco Rubio on Wednesday called for “bold diplomacy” from the United States to end the war.
Ukraine’s main problem, he said, is not that it is “running out of money, but rather that it is running out of Ukrainians.”
According to him, “the role of the United States and NATO in the 21e century” must also be questioned, following on from the statements of Donald Trump, who threatened to no longer guarantee the protection of NATO countries against Russia if they did not devote a sufficient budget to their defense.
The senator said it was important for the United States to have “not just defense allies” but “competent defense allies who can defend their region.”
