Marco Rubio's duplicity tarnishes the image of the United States

Note: The following article is taken from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs".

United States Senator Marco Rubio filed an amendment to the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act on Monday that would prevent the tech firm Huawei from seeking licensing fees it is owed, or costs for damages, in American patent courts. This jaw-dropping move came as a surprise to many: Who would have thought that a senator from a country that claims to be a strong advocate for intellectual property protections would try to strip those protections from foreign companies? Demanding that foreign companies pay to use American patents while forbidding them from asking for patent fees owed by American firms is nothing less than robbery and extortion.

Marco Rubio talks with reporters after the Republican Senate Policy Luncheon, May 14, 2019. [Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/ IC]

Senator Rubio is one of the most radically anti-China Republicans. He consistently accuses China of stealing American intellectual property, and has labeled Huawei a serious threat to America's national security. When Huawei tried to exercise its legitimate right to ask the American telecommunications provider Verizon for more than one billion U.S. dollars in license fees associated with their use of 230 patents belonging to Huawei, Senator Rubio dropped the facade of caring about fairness and law, and brazenly called the company "a patent troll".

When foreign companies use American patents, Senator Rubio is quick to stress the importance of intellectual property right protections. But when American firms need to use foreign patents, he changes his tune, because he believes they are merely a tool American companies should wield to their own advantage.

His attacks on the legitimate rights and interests of Huawei shouldn't come as a surprise. Senator Rubio's attacks on China have gone far beyond intellectual property protections. Since becoming a senator in 2011, he's pushed for the Senate to pass the Taiwan Travel Act, proposed a ban on the United States government from purchasing equipment made in China, and carried out a campaign to expel Confucius Institutes from American schools and universities. He is, as the Washington Post said, "one of the Trump Administration's loudest critics on China."

The senator has been working hard to craft this tough guy image for himself. The 48-year-old rising star of the GOP has strong ties to its Tea Party faction. In 2016, he ran for the White House but was defeated in the primaries. Since that failure, he's popped his head up now and then to remind the country of his existence by emitting a blast of anti-China vitriol. The stunt he pulled on Monday might lend him an advantage with his base, but it has damaged the image of the United States in the international community as a country that can be relied upon to defend the legitimate rights and interests of companies participating in its marketplace.