U.S. Republican Rubio vows to press China on human rights

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican candidate Marco Rubio promised on Wednesday to strengthen ties with China's neighbours and put more pressure on Beijing on human rights if he wins the U.S. presidential election in 2016. In an essay in Foreign Affairs magazine, Rubio accused President Barack Obama's administration of "a disturbing willingness to ignore human rights violations in the hope of appeasing the Chinese leadership." "The best way for the United States to counter China’s expansion in East Asia is through support for liberty," Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, wrote. "If the United States hopes to restore stability in East Asia, it has to speak with clarity and strength regarding the universal rights and values that America represents," he said. Obama will host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House next month amid tensions between the two countries over cyber security and territorial disputes between China and its neighbours in the South China Sea and East China Sea. Rubio, a Cuban-American who is a foreign policy hawk, is polling in the top half of the large pack of Republicans vying for the party's nomination for the November 2016 presidential election. He said he would strengthen ties with Asia’s democracies, from India to Taiwan, to counter China. "Bolstering liberty on China’s periphery can galvanize the region against Beijing’s hostility and change China’s political future,' he wrote. Rubio is likely to criticize China when he gives what his campaign calls a major foreign policy speech in South Carolina on Friday. China has also come under fire from Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who accuses it of stealing U.S. jobs. Property mogul Trump also says volatility in U.S. stocks in recent days is due to over-exposure to China where markets have plummeted on worries about the economy. (Reporting by Alistair Bell; Editing by Leslie Adler)