Marco Rubio confirmed that the Chinese authorities changed his name in Chinese to spare him from the sanctions imposed in 2020.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also accompanies U.S. President Donald Trump on his official visit to China, stated that Beijing changed the spelling of his name in Chinese.

This modification was a bureaucratic trick meant to spare him from the sanctions imposed by China in 2020, without explicitly revoking them. The new name, transliterated as "Lu Bi Ao", includes a different ideogram for the sound "lu", which was changed when Rubio took over the State Department. This maneuver has been interpreted as a way to facilitate his entry into the country, considering that Rubio has been a vocal critic of China. In 2020, China banned the entry of several American citizens, including Rubio, in response to the sanctions imposed by the U.S.

The name change has generated speculation about a possible political connotation, as the new spelling could have unfavorable meanings, such as "fatty" or "stupid".