Obama 'to name Gary Locke new US ambassador to China' Skip to main content

Obama 'to name Gary Locke new US ambassador to China'

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Gary Locke was the first Chinese-American to be appointed to the role of US commerce secretary

Related Stories

President Barack Obama is to nominate Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as the new US ambassador to China, senior administration officials have said.
Mr Locke would replace current ambassador Jon Huntsman, who is due to leave the post on 30 April.
Mr Huntsman announced his resignation last month, fuelling speculation he may be preparing a 2012 White House bid.
Mr Locke, whose father was born in China, is the first Chinese-American to serve as US commerce secretary.
The formal announcement of his nomination as ambassador to China is expected on Tuesday, officials said.
The appointment would need to be confirmed by the US Senate.
Mr Locke, who joined the Obama administration in March 2009, is a former two-term Democratic governor of Washington state.

Analysis

image of Damian Grammaticas Damian Grammaticas BBC News, Beijing
With his choice of Gary Locke, President Obama is replacing one high-profile ambassador to China with another.
And if the appointment is approved by the US Senate it will complete a remarkable family story.
Gary Locke's grandfather emigrated from China to America by steamship. His father worked in a grocery store in Washington State and sent his son to Yale University.
Gary Locke rose to be the first American citizen of Chinese origin to become a state governor, in Washington State, and then US commerce secretary, a post he still holds.
As commerce secretary, he has long overseen negotiations with China on trade issues.
He has urged Beijing to move further and faster to open its markets to foreign firms, to loosen its currency controls, and to clamp down on rampant piracy of intellectual property.
President Obama has set a goal of doubling US exports in five years to help America's economic recovery.
Mr Locke's appointment as ambassador to China, the world's fastest growing major economy, and one with which America has a huge trade deficit at a record $273bn (£168bn) last year, will be a key part of that strategy, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing.
Mr Huntsman, a Republican former Utah governor, was appointed Beijing envoy by Mr Obama in 2009.
Before that, he was intimately involved in the 2008 US presidential election as national co-chair of Senator John McCain's campaign.
In an interview with Newsweek magazine in January, when he was asked about presidential ambitions, the 50-year-old replied: "We may have one final run left in our bones."
The White House has declined to speculate on Mr Huntsman's future plans.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12672260
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do...
1 comment
Read more

Ancient Rakhine City of Mrauk-U Proposed for UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Irrawaddy YANGON—Myanmar’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture submitted the final draft of its nomination for Mrauk-U to become a World Heritage Site to UNESCO on Monday, four months after the ministry submitted the first draft of its nomination in September 2019. If the application succeeds, Mrauk-U will be the third place in Myanmar to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the ancient cities of Bagan and Pyu. Mrauk-U is located in northern Rakhine State, around 60 km from the state capital of Sittwe. The ancient city was the seat of Arakanese kings from the 1400s until the late 1700s. At the height of their power, they controlled an area covering large parts of eastern Bengal, modern-day Rakhine State and the western part of central Myanmar. Much of the city’s remains are well-preserved and some 380 historic temples are scattered between the lush hills of northern Rakhine. Mrauk-U Heritage Trust chairwoman Daw Khin Than told The Irrawaddy on Tue...
1 comment
Read more

Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera

The Life Story of A Distinguished And Outstanding Bhikkhu The Most Venerable Saradawpharagree Sri Bhaddanta Chandramani Mahathera The Buddhist missionary Saradaw Ashin U Chandramani was endowed with great gifts and led a famous and long life. He was a very well known, distinguished and outstanding Bhikkhu Mahathera. While living in the Kushinagar Monastery, a place close to where the Lord Buddha had passed away to Nirvana, the Government of India had offered, and he had accepted, the highest, most honourable and respected title "Guru Guru MahaGuru". He became the first ever President of all Buddhists in India.A World Buddhist Conference took place in Kathmandu during the reign of King Mahindra of Nepal. The Conference was very well attended by over one hundred thousand Buddhists from various parts of the world and it was opened by King Mahindra himself. As requested by the King, Saradawpharagree blessed all the participants with the power of Triple Gems...
Post a Comment
Read more