On May 19, President Barack Obama nominated Utah governor, Jon Huntsman, as the new U.S. ambassador to China, said to be a “China expert.” Mr. Huntsman, 49, is fluent in Mandarin Chinese from his days as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan. He previously served as a U.S. ambassador to Singapore and as a deputy U.S. trade ambassador. President Obama’s nomination is widely believed as an excellent decision by U.S. officials, scholars, and experts.
During Mr. Huntsman’s service as Utah governor, he has enhanced relations with China on commerce, trade, and travel. He had led several commercial groups to China and invited Chinese provincial governors to visit Utah for the Western Governors Association conference in Park City, Utah during June 14-16. I;k3n addition, Mr. Huntsman even listed Mandarin Chinese as a “strategic foreign language”, making the state of Utah become the first state to offer Chinese language courses in public schools.
According to Lee Cheng from the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, the most important aspect of Sino-American relations is economics and trade. As Lee Chang pointed out, Mr. Huntsman is an entrepreneur, and holds similar views with President Obama on trade, energy, environment, and religious freedom. Given the fact that he is a Republican, his nomination bill should be easily passed in Congress.
Another testimony to Mr. Huntsman’s outstanding experience and skills is from Henry A. Levine, the former U.S. Consul General in Shanghai. He said, Mr. Huntsman is an important figure in U.S. politics, considering his Republican background, which will help assure U.S.’ inter-party attitude on the Chinese policies. His knowledge of the Chinese culture and language as well as his diplomatic experience are also a plus.
Mr. Huntsman will surely bring a lot of advantages to Sino-American relations as President Obama described, “Given the breadth of issues at stake in our relationship with China, this ambassadorship is as important as any in the world—because the United States will be able to deal effectively with global challenges in the 21st century by working in concert with China.”
Obama Picks Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman As Ambassador To China
Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and His Family
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