Rubio and Waltz too... Trump Leading 'Anti-China' Figures, Signaling Hegemony Competition

Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States set to take office in January next year, has signaled that the US-China hegemonic conflict will intensify as he plans to appoint hardline hawks with a pronounced 'anti-China' stance to senior positions in diplomacy and national security. Essentially, the keyword for Trump's second-term foreign and security personnel is 'anti-China.'

President-elect Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio Reuters Yonhap News

According to Bloomberg and other sources on the 11th (local time), Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Mike Waltz, who are reportedly nominated as Secretary of State and White House National Security Advisor for Trump's second administration, share the common trait of being hawkish figures who have strongly criticized China in public. The Secretary of State and the White House National Security Advisor, along with the Secretary of Defense and the CIA Director, play key roles in shaping national security policy. Bloomberg analyzed that "the nomination of Rubio and Waltz signals that relations with China could further deteriorate under Trump's second administration."

Rubio, a 'pro-Trump diplomat,' is a prominent anti-China hawk who has been active on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The New York Times (NYT), which first reported Rubio's nomination, noted, "Although Trump might change his mind at the last moment, it seems he has firmly decided to entrust Rubio," highlighting his hawkish stance on China, Iran, and other foreign and security issues. Rubio has consistently been involved in various anti-China sanctions efforts in Congress and has been on the Chinese government's entry ban list since 2020.

Specifically, Rubio has strongly condemned alleged human rights abuses against the Uyghur population in China's Xinjiang region. He also introduced the Fair Trade Enforcement Act to prevent China from stealing US technology and intellectual property. He conducted investigations into the origins of COVID-19, which first spread in Wuhan, China, and released reports. Additionally, he has advocated for sanctions against China's maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea and East China Sea through relevant legislation. Zhu Junwei, head of US research at the Beijing Grandview Institute, said, "If he ultimately becomes Secretary of State, a nightmare will become reality," adding, "China must consider how to handle sanctions against him before engaging with him."

Representative Waltz, nominated as White House National Security Advisor, has also demonstrated a hardline approach, publicly stating in the past that the US is "in a cold war with the Chinese Communist Party." A veteran Green Beret, he has worked on the House China Task Force, introducing legislation to reduce US dependence on China for critical minerals and to protect American academia from Chinese espionage. Days before the US presidential election, he published an article in The Economist arguing that the US should end conflicts with Europe and the Middle East and confront the "greater threat" posed by China. The White House National Security Advisor is the top aide assisting the president in foreign and security affairs, coordinating all national security-related agencies, reporting issues to the president, and implementing policies. Waltz's selection for this role is widely seen as a clear indication that countering China will be central to US foreign policy.

In particular, Waltz has long argued that the US needs 'strategic clarity'?a clear commitment to defend Taiwan?rather than the government's existing stance of 'strategic ambiguity' to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. He warned that if China takes control of Taiwan, it would dominate maritime trade routes to South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, as well as 90% of advanced semiconductors, putting the US at a disadvantage. Furthermore, he expressed concern that if the US allows Taiwan to fall, "allies closer to China, such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Thailand, will realize they are alone and cannot trust the US to support fellow democracies," and that "Asian allies will either concede to China to avoid Taiwan's fate or arm themselves with nuclear weapons."