In the hours before Donald Trump’s arrival in Beijing to begin his state visit, an unexpected detail caught the internet’s attention: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s choice of travel attire.

Instead of the tailored formalwear typically expected of a top diplomat, Rubio appeared in a grey Nike tracksuit on the Beijing-bound Air Force One – an ensemble social media users quickly recognised as the “Maduro arrest look”.

White House communications director Steven Cheung posted a photo of the top diplomat in the outfit on Wednesday with the caption: “Secretary Rubio rocking the Nike Tech ‘Venezuela’ on Air Force One!”

The Nike Tech tracksuit first went viral online in January after images circulated of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro wearing it while in US custody aboard a naval warship after he and his wife were abducted in a US military raid in Caracas.

China has strongly condemned the US capture of Maduro, saying it violated international law and threatened peace and security in Latin America.