GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The new US ambassador to China, former Washington state governor Gary Locke, unwittingly made a major and positive impact in China, thanks to a US businessman who had his camera handy. Locke was wearing a backpack and buying himself a coffee at Starbucks at the Seattle airport, en route to his new job in China in mid-August, when US-Chinese businessman ZhaoHui Tang photographed him.
Tang introduced himself to Locke and wished him good luck, according to AP, then posted the photo on Sina Weibo, a social media network, where it rapidly went viral, generating a massive number of comments and 40,000 re-posts. AP interviewed Tang: “‘This is something unbelievable in China,’ said Tang, a Chinese-American citizen. ‘Even for low-ranking officials, we don’t do things for ourselves. Someone goes to buy the coffee for them. Someone carries their bags for them.’”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The new US ambassador to China, Gary Locke, told reporters at his first press conference in Beijing Sunday 14 August that the US is committed to “getting our fiscal house in order”, in response to Chinese criticism in recent days of what official media have called the American “addiction to borrowing”. China reportedly held $1.16 trillion in US debt, government securities, at the end of May, more than any other country. The criticism followed the downgrading of US credit by rating agency Moodie’s earlier this month.
Locke is a third-generation Chinese-American, whose family emigrated from Hong Kong, with roots in southern Guangdong province. He became the first US state governor of Chinese descent in 1996, re-elected to the post in 2000. He has most recently served as US secretary of commerce. He speaks fluent Cantonese.
He and his wife and three children arrived in Beijing 11 August.
Links to other sites: Economic Times of India, New York Times, Politico, Xinhua
