US Republican Senator Marco Rubio mounted a fierce criticism of China Thursday as it named its new president, saying the Asian giant tortures its citizens, uses forced labor and is bent on global superiority. Rubio, a rising political star seen as a possible 2016 presidential candidate, offered his critique at the conservative policy conference CPAC, where he said communist Beijing's goal was to surpass US influence. "While we are bickering (about budget and tax and spending policies), there is a nation trying to supplant us as the leading power in the world," Rubio warned.