China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on Friday spoke with America’s new secretary of state Marco Rubio over the phone and uttered a phrase that roughly translates into “behave yourself”.
Wang Yi conveyed the message as he spoke with Rubio for the first time since his confirmation as US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat.
“I hope you will act accordingly,” Wang told Rubio, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement, employing a Chinese phrase typically used by a teacher or a boss warning a student or employee to behave and be responsible for their actions, reported AP.
Rubio and China have had a frosty relationship due to the former’s vocal criticism of the country as a US senator. He has questioned China’s human rights records. The Chinese government put sanctions on him twice in 2020.
In the past, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has used “make the right choice” and “be very prudent about what they say or do” rather than “act accordingly.”
The vagueness allows the phrase to express an expectation and deliver a veiled warning, while also maintaining the courtesy necessary for further diplomatic engagement, said Zichen Wang, a research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization.
“What could appear to be confusing is thus an intended effect originating from Chinese traditional wisdom and classic practice of speech,” said Wang.
During his confirmation hearing, Rubio cited the importance of referring to the original Chinese to understand the words of China’s leader, Xi Jinping.
“Don’t read the English translation that they put out because the English translation is never right,” he said.
What Rubio told China
The US statement on the call refrained from mentioning the phrase and said Rubio told Wang that the Trump administration would advance US interests in its relationship with China. The statement expressed “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan and in the South China Sea.”
Wang was foreign minister in 2020 when China slapped sanctions on Rubio in July and August.
Donald Trump, who became the president of the US earlier this month, is known for his staunch anti-China stance. He aims to challenge China both strategically and economically.
Soon after Trump’s swearing-in event, China stressed a rules-based multipolar world.
With inputs from AP
