In an article about Senator Rubio’s record as a foe of the Chinese Communist Party, Bitter Winter’s Marco Respinti makes a point of saying that Bitter Winter “does not deal with partisan politics.”
An odd guideline as stated, given the publication’s frequent reporting on the evils perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party, a party. In any case, its readers should know “that for all those who are persecuted by the communist regime in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Rubio’s appointment is excellent news, as several organizations of Chinese exiles are already confirming with their cheering on social media” (“Marco Rubio: A Secretary of State Who Knows the Crimes of China,” November 26, 2024)
As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has always been an outspoken critic of the PRC and a strong supporter of the Republic of China in Taiwan. After his condemnation of the new security law passed in Hong Kong, by which Beijing de facto took the leadership of the former British colony over its puppet government, he was sanctioned in 2020 by China, alongside U.S. Senators Ted Cruz [a Republican], Tom Cotton [a Republican], Josh Hawley [a Republican], and Pat Toomey [a Republican], Representative Chris Smith [a Republican], and the heads of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House.
A strong supporter of the rights of Uyghurs persecuted in the PRC…[Rubio was] instrumental in introducing key legislation such as the “Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act” (H.R. 6256) in 2021 for preventing American entities from directly or indirectly using slave labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where the PRC regime notoriously employs it….
[Rubio:] “The bottom line is that U.S. policymakers cannot afford to be complacent about the largest, most advanced adversary America has ever faced.”
Respinti says that the cheers from Chinese exiles are justified “not by a partisan stand” but by Rubio’s clear and constant criticism of CCP misdeeds and the actions he has taken.
Okay. But perhaps there is some relationship between the the ideas, conduct, and policies of the members, or of some members, of a political party and the ideological character of that party which tends to render partisan preferences intelligible. Some Chinese exiles may know that Rubio was never on Biden’s short list for secretary of state.
