NPR: “Obama to Name Commerce Secretary Locke Ambassador to China”
“Obama to Name Commerce Secretary Locke Ambassador to China,” National Public Radio, 7 March 2011.
President Obama is going to make history Tuesday by naming Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be U.S. ambassador to China, making him the first American of known Chinese ancestry to be named to that post.
Several news outlets are reporting that the president will make the announcement.
As the former governor of Washington state, Locke created relationships with senior Chinese officials.
As Time reported shortly after Obama named him to the Commerce post in February 2009:
• Since leaving office in 2004, Locke has worked for a Seattle law-firm, specializing in China. As the nation’s one-time top Chinese American politician, Locke has kept in close contact with his parent’s homeland. He arranged for Chinese President Hu Jintao to start off his first state visit in 2006 to America in Seattle, and has met privately with Chinese Premier Wen Jibao — a rare event for any U.S. politician. He also ran a leg of the Olympic torch relay before 2008’s Beijing Olympics. …
