US Senate confirms Tillerson as Secretary of State

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US Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as US Secretary of State.

Tillerson was approved to be the top US diplomat in a 56-43 vote, with three democrats and an independent lawmaker joining all Republicans to back him. Democratic senator Chris Coons skipped the vote.

The confirmation came despite some lawmakers' skepticism over Tillerson's stance towards Russia, given his previous business ties with Russia and relationship with the country's leadership.

Rex Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil, smiles during his testimony before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be US secretary of state in Washington, US January 11, 2017./CFP Photo

Senator Marco Rubio, who had a testy exchange with Tillerson during his confirmation hearing last month, noted that Secretary of State "is the most important cabinet position that the president has to nominate."

"There is so much uncertainty and debate about our role in the world these days," he said, according to news website The Hill. "A lot of our allies have questions. Our adversaries are obviously watching very closely."

At the confirmation hearing on January 11, Tillerson, calling Russia a "danger" to the United States, said he favored maintaining US sanctions against Moscow.

"Russia today poses a danger, but it is not unpredictable in advancing its own interests," said Tillerson. "Our NATO allies are right to be alarmed at a resurgent Russia."

He also recommended a "full review" of the nuclear deal with Iran, but he did not call for an outright rejection of the accord.

On the South China Sea issue, Tillerson told the hearing that China should stop island building in the South China Sea and be denied access to these islands, which China regards as an integral part of its territory.

Cui Tiankai, Chinese Ambassador to the US participates in the Plenary Session of the US-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange during the seventh US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue at the US State Department in Washington DC, June 24, 2015. /CFP Photo

Following Tillerson's remark, Cui Tiankai, Chinese Ambassador to the US, urged "some people" in the United States to be more careful and act in a more responsible way when talking about possible disputes in other people's waters.

Tillerson was widely known for opposing sanctions against Russia during his time as ExxonMobil CEO. And he refused to label Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal as he had known him since the 1990s and was awarded the Order of Friendship in 2013 by Putin.

(With inputs from Xinhua)