Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic
Trump’s new secretary of state met with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan to discuss countering China’s rising power.
ADVERTISEMENTUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off the Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts with a meeting of the Indo-Pacific “Quad” group, a collection of countries gathered together in order to counter China’s rising power. Rubio is known for his hardline stance against China, and called the country the most “potent, dangerous and near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted” at his confirmation hearing last week.The former Florida senator has been sanctioned by China twice for his remarks on its human rights record and Hong Kong. The timing of the meeting suggests that combating China’s influence will remain a top priority for Trump and his chief diplomat.The Quad was established in 2007 to bring together countries that worked together in response to the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, with security only one part of its role. Today, the group forms a key component of the US’s China policy. Rubio — who was confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state with unanimous support — will play a lead role in shaping Trump’s foreign policy during his four-year term. Addressing State Department employees after his confirmation, he called on them to forcefully defend and execute Trump’s “America First” mantra, saying that US foreign policy would be centred “on one thing, and that is the advancement of our national interest” — defining that as “anything that makes us stronger or safer or more prosperous”.At his confirmation hearing, the former Florida senator devoted a significant portion of his time to painting a dark vision of what he called the US’ “unbalanced relationship” with China.Although he touched on issues in the Middle East, Latin America and eastern Europe, Rubio called China the single biggest threat to US prosperity in the 21st century, and called for a drastic change of direction in Washington’s dealings with Beijing. He blamed America’s vulnerability to China on a shift to “globalism”, and said the US must pivot to putting its national interests above everything else. Trump has promised to take a hardline approach to China as president, including by threatening to impose massive tariffs on Chinese imports. He claims the measure is needed to punish China for sending fentanyl, a lethal opioid drug, to the US via Mexico and Canada.The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded on Wednesday saying that it would defend its “national interests” against such a threat, insisting that it believed there “are no winners in a trade war or a tariff war”.Trump has also stepped in to pause a ban on the social media app TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. He has threatened to slap “100% tariffs” on Chinese goods if Beijing does not allow the sale of the popular app to a US owner. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that business operations and acquisitions “should be independently decided by companies in accordance with market principles”.
