Obama Appoints New Ambassador to China, Posted by Meosha Eaton

By Williams Ekanem

President Barack Obama has named Mr. Gary Locke as the  new United States Ambassador to China.

He replaces  Jon Huntsman, who  has decided to step down from his current job. 

Making the announcement, Obama said, “in replacing Ambassador Huntsman, I can think of nobody who is more qualified than Gary Locke.  More than 100 years ago, Gary’s grandfather left China on a steamship bound for America, where he worked as a domestic servant in Washington State.  A century later, his grandson will return to China as America’s top diplomat.” 

Going into Gary’s public offices, Obama said, “in the years between these milestones, Gary has distinguished himself as one of our nation’s most respected and admired public servants.  As our country’s first Chinese-American governor, he worked tirelessly to attract jobs and businesses to Washington State, and he doubled exports to China.”

According to the President,   “two years ago, I asked Gary to continue this work as Commerce Secretary.  I wanted him to advocate for America’s businesses and American exports all around the world, make progress on our relationship with China, and use the management skills he developed as governor to reform a complex and sprawling agency.  He has done all that and more.  He’s been a point person for my National Export Initiative, and last year, Gary’s department led an historic number of trade missions that helped promote American businesses and support American jobs.  He’s overseen an increase in American exports, and particularly exports to China, a country we recently signed trade deals with that will support 235,000 American jobs.”

He added, “as Commerce Secretary, Gary oversaw a Census process that ended on time and under budget, returning $2 billion to American taxpayers.  He’s earned the trust of business leaders across America by listening to their concerns, making it easier for them to export their goods abroad, and dramatically reducing the time it takes to get a patent.  When he’s in Beijing, I know that American companies will be able to count on him to represent their interests in front of China’s top leaders.

 “As one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, our relationship with China is one of the most critical of the 21st century.  Over the last two years we worked hard to build a relationship that serves our national interest -– addressing global security issues and expanding opportunities for American companies and American workers.  Continued cooperation between our countries will be good for America, it will be good for China, and it will be good for the world.  As the grandson of a Chinese immigrant who went on to live the American Dream, Gary is the right person to continue this cooperation.  I know he will bring the same skills and experience that he brought to Commerce Secretary to this new position that he’s about to embark on,” the President added.

In his response, Gary said “I’m eager to assume this new position.  And it’s a privilege and a solemn responsibility to serve you and the American people as the next United States ambassador to China.”