Could Marco Rubio champion human rights in Southeast Asia?

US President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state Marco Rubio is one of a trio of China hawks whom Donald Trump has tapped for senior roles, including Mike Waltz, who will be appointed Trump's national security adviser, and Elise Stefanik, nominated for ambassador to the United Nations.

In 2018, Rubio co-sponsored the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which seeks to deny entry into the United States to any Chinese officials who prohibit US citizens from entering Tibet, a territory claimed by China.

He has also introduced legislation sanctioning China for its repression of the minority Uyghur population and the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong. The Chinese government responded by blacklisting Rubio.

A democracy hawk

"He will be a strong advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our allies, and a fearless warrior who will never back down to our adversaries," Trump wrote about Rubio on his social media platform, Truth Social. 

Rubio, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and called Trump a "third-world strongman" during that campaign, has a long record of promoting democracy and human rights in Southeast Asia.

In 2022, he stated that "the Hun Sen dictatorship destroyed democracy in Cambodia and allowed the nation to be exploited by the Chinese Communist Party," in reference to Cambodia's former prime minister, who is now president of the Senate.

Rubio co-sponsored several Cambodia Democracy Acts in the Senate — which aimed to promote democracy and impose sanctions on Sen's "inner circle" — none of which passed Congress.

He also co-sponsored legislation that would have punished the ruling Communist Party in Vietnam for its increasing use of draconian tactics to silence dissent, and pushed the State Department to impose tougher sanctions on the junta that took power in Myanmar after a 2021 coup.

"While in Congress, Senator Rubio continually spoke out about human rights across Asia and the Pacific, reflecting his genuine interest in promoting and protecting rights in the region, and one hopes that will continue if he becomes Secretary of State," Phil Robertson, the director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates, told DW. 

Resisting Trump?

Rubio also understands the US' need for alliances, contrasting with Trump's transactional diplomatic style, analysts say.

Trump has threatened to impose 60% tariffs on Chinese imports and 10 to 20% on goods imported from elsewhere.

Rubio, for his part, has said it's in the US' interest to help defend the Philippines in the South China Sea against Chinese aggression. Last year, he penned an article for the bimonthly international relations magazine The National Interest titled "Why the Philippines Matter to America."

"A united front in the Indo-Pacific," Rubio wrote, "will not coalesce without firm US support. We should provide that support, not because we want to get mixed up in far-flung controversies, but because deterring Beijing is the best way to keep this far-flung controversy from impacting our way of life."

However, the biggest question is how much independence Rubio will have within Trump's cabinet if he is appointed, Robertson told DW. 

 "What we saw the first time around was that Trump doesn't consider human rights to be intrinsic to US foreign policy in Asia or anywhere else in the world, instead viewing rights issues as something the US can trade off in a deal for something else Trump wants," he added.  

Indeed, other pundits have cast doubt on whether Rubio will be left alone to sketch out his own policy as America's top diplomat.

Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, tweeted over the weekend that Rubio and Waltz had both been strong critics of China's human rights violations but questioned whether they would be able to "care about anyone other than" themselves. 

According to a Washington Post editorial on November 12: "The success — or failure — of the incoming Trump administration might depend on whether voices such as Mr. Rubio's are included — and heeded."

Rubio's human rights record

Rubio's nomination has also assuaged some fears in Europe over the incoming Trump administration — or, at least, it hasn't exacerbated European concerns. 

In February 2022, immediately following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he co-sponsored the Never Yielding Europe's Territory (NYET) Act, which aimed to "bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities" and impose sanctions on Russia.

He also helped to draw up legislation that now prevents any president from withdrawing the US from the NATO military alliance without approval from the Senate.

"The EU will work towards a strong transatlantic agenda with the next US administration of Donald J. Trump," Peter Stano, an EU spokesperson, told DW.

"We have a joint interest in a functioning global system. We need to work together to defend the order that we built while at the same time reforming it to make it more inclusive and deliver on global commitments," he added.

"EU-US cooperation and shared leadership is instrumental for pushing back against the attempt to change the effective functioning of multilateral structures capable of addressing global challenges," Stano continued.

"If we do not succeed, alternative models will prevail, to the detriment of both EU and US interests."

The outgoing Biden administration has faced criticism from some analysts for failing to speak up about human rights violations in countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, which have become key partners of the US in recent years.

Of the 11 Southeast Asian countries, only Timor-Leste, the smallest and newest state in the region, was ranked "free" by Freedom House's latest index. Laos, Cambodia, Brunei and Vietnam were ranked "not free."

The US upper house of the legislative branch, the Senate, will be responsible for confirming or rejecting the Trump cabinet's nominees when the president's term begins in January.

Edited by: Keith Walker