▲ Sen. Marco Rubio testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination to be Secretary of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 15, 2025 in this photo released by AFP. (Yonhap)

Rubio-confirmation hearing

Rubio decries 'dictators' in N.K., Russia, Iran, accuses China of 'stealing' its way to superpower status

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio on Wednesday accused "rough states" and "dictators" in North Korea, Russia and Iran of sowing "chaos" and "instability," and China of having "lied," "cheated" and "stolen" its way into a global superpower status at the expense of the United States.

During a confirmation hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio emphasized his commitment to incoming President Donald Trump's America First agenda, saying placing the interest of America and Americans "above all else" has never been "more relevant or more necessary" than it is at present.

In November, Trump nominated Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as his top diplomat -- a post facing a full plate of foreign policy challenges, including an intensifying rivalry with China, Russia's war in Ukraine and North Korea's evolving security threats to name a few.

"In Moscow, in Tehran, in Pyongyang, dictators and rogue states now sow chaos and instability, and align with and they fund radical terror groups, and they hide behind their veto power at the U.N. Security Council or the threats of nuclear war," he said in his opening statement.

On China, the nominee showed his hard-line stance.

"We welcomed the Chinese Communist Party into the global order, and they took advantage of all of its benefits and they ignored all of its obligations and responsibilities," he said.

"Instead, they have lied, cheated, hacked and stolen their way into global superpower status, and they have done so at our expense and at the expense of the people of their own country."

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