Last week, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur. The meeting between two top diplomats is especially noteworthy due to Rubio being officially sanctioned by Beijing. Before he was tapped by President Donald Trump to become US secretary of state, Rubio had served in the US Senate, where he was a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. The commission is charged with monitoring human rights and the development of the rule of law in China, and submitting an annual report to the US president. Show additional content? This content is part of the text you are currently reading. The provider X / Twitter provides this content and may collect your usage data directly when you click “Show content”. Always show content from X / Twitter. As a member of this body, Rubio sharply criticized the Chinese government for suppressing the democracy movement in Hong Kong, and for drastically restricting civil rights in the western province of Xinjiang. Beijing lambasted what it saw as "interference in internal affairs" and placed Rubio on the sanctions list after the US government imposed punitive measures on Chinese politicians. The current US state secretary faced an entry ban and a freeze of any assets in China.