◼ POLITICS Bloomberg Businessweek March 30, 202037PHOTOGRAPH
BY
JARED
SOARES
FOR
BLOOMBERG
BUSINESSWEEK
THEBOTTOMLINE Rubiohascarvedoutpoliticalspacefor
himselfasa Chinahawk,buthisaggressivestancemaynotwin
overtheU.S.businesscommunity.competitor in the industrial, technological, geopo-
litical, and military realm, so this is an enormous
challenge, and it’ll define the 21st century,” Rubio
says. “We’re late. We don’t have time to spare.”
Proposed legislation he has sponsored would
stop American pension funds from buying Chinese
securities, delist China-based companies from U.S.
exchanges, and further restrict sales of sensitive
American technology to China, in keeping with the
limits imposed on Huawei Technologies Co. that
went into effect in May 2018. Another proposal he
sponsored, which was signed into law last fall, could
freeze the assets of Chinese officials believed to be
responsibleforhuman-rightsabusesinHongKong.
Rubiohas arguedinrecent weeksthatthe
coronavirus pandemic shows the dangers of exces-
sive dependence on the world’s most populous
country, which is the primary source for medical
supplies from masks and gloves to pharmaceutical
ingredients—many of which are now in desperately
short supply in the U.S.
Rubio, 48, began focusing on China only relatively
recently. He’s never been there and says he has no
plans to go. As he learned more about economic and
national security policy, though, “China kept com-
ing up,” he says. “It’s sort of an issue I worked into
backwards.” By 2016, which he began as a strong
presidential contender, the economic impact of
theworld’smostpopulouscountrywasanissuehe
couldn’tavoid.“YougototheMidwest,toOhio,to
placeswhereweoncehadthesecommunitiesthat
weresustainedbycertainwork,”hesays,“andyou
realizethattheseindustriesdidn’tjustcollapse
becauseofthewaythemarketworks.Theycollapsed
becauseofa concertedeffortbya nation-state.”
Thatelection,ofcourse,alsoshowedthepolitical
valueofBeijing-bashing.PromisingtopunishChina
andothercountriesheclaimedhad“raped”theU.S.,
TrumpwallopedRubioeveninFlorida.Althoughhe
handilywonhisSenateseatthatNovember,Rubio
returnedtoWashingtonsomewhataimless,former
staffersandpoliticalconsultantssay—unsureofhow
toreasserthispositionina Trump-dominatedparty,
ortofindcommoncausewitha manwhooncerid-
iculedhimonTwitteras“LittleMarco.”Chinawas
oneissuewheretheirprioritiesaligned.
Lastyear,RubiointroducedtheEquitableAct,
whichwouldforceChinesecompaniesthatare
tradedonU.S.stockmarkets—therearemorethan
150, with a combined capitalization of more than
$1.2 trillion—to adhere to American accounting
standards or be delisted. A separate bill, the TSP
Act, would block a key federal pension fund from
investing in Chinese companies that have been
accused of stealing intellectual property or areunder sanctions imposed by the U.S. government.
In Chinese financial circles, where many senior
bankers understand that Senate bills have to over-
come a myriad of hurdles to become law, “peo-
ple are concerned” about Rubio, says Fred Hu,
the former head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s
China operations and the founder of investment
firm Primavera Capital Group.
The so-called phase one U.S.-China trade deal,
signed on Jan. 15, will almost certainly move
things in the opposite direction from Rubio’s
desires. A key plank of the deal allows banks such
as Goldman and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to set up
wholly owned Chinese operations that can com-
pete for local business without restrictions
Rubio says he’s concerned that promises of
greatermarketaccesswillunderminehisefforts.
Fordecades,hesays,“theChineseleadershiphas
deputized American CEOs to come to Washington
and advocate for why we should allow China to
continue to steal because it’s good for short-term
access.” �Jenny Leonard and Shelly Banjo▲ Rubio slammed
TikTok on Instagram.
His sons weren’t
amused