How the Tea Party Harpooned Hillary Clinton's Asia Mission

If you thought the only targets in the Tea Party's sights were Barack Obama's birth certificate and college records, please read on. Their actions two months ago made Hillary Clinton's job on this Asia mission infinitely more frustrating than it needed to be and subjected her to attacks by the Chinese press.

From left, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, Secretary of State Clinton

In the pre-departure State Department briefing  on Secretary Clinton's current Asia trip, the Senior State Department official (unidentified during the briefing, but probably Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell who did indeed meet up with her in Beijing) stated the following.

We believe that the full range of issues in U.S.-China relations will be discussed, from developments in Asia, developments on the Korean Peninsula, issues associated with peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region. We will touch on and deal with challenges associated with the South China Sea. We’ll talk about Iran, obviously developments in Syria, Afghanistan – the full range

The Secretary of State, top diplomat, in dealing with conflicts and disputes, relies, yes, upon her considerable personal  skills of negotiation,  but also upon treaties, memoranda of understanding,  and agreements between and among countries.   We watched her long hard slog, almost from the day she encountered Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, through the hard work their teams put in to formulate the New START Treaty, to the day she quietly, and unofficially showed up on Capitol Hill in December 2010 to celebrate the ratification of that treaty for which she had fought so hard.

Similarly, in this final year of her tenure at State, we have seen her lobby for the ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty (L.O.S.T.).  On May 23 of this year we saw her argue before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that joining the convention was "urgent."   It was not about achieving a victory for Hillary Clinton.  She never cares who gets the credit as long as the work gets done.  It was about leveling the international playing field.

• The convention allows countries to claim sovereignty over their continental shelf far out into the ocean, beyond 200 nautical miles from shore. The relevant area for the United States is probably more than 1.5 times the size of Texas.

• The second development concerns deep seabed mining, which takes place in that part of the ocean floor that is beyond any country’s jurisdiction....   So as long as the United States is outside the convention, our companies are left with two bad choices – either take their deep sea mining business to another country or give up on the idea. Meanwhile, as you heard from Senator Kerry and Senator Lugar, China, Russia, and many other countries are already securing their licenses under the convention to begin mining for valuable metals and rare earth elements.

• The third development that is now urgent is the emerging opportunities in the Arctic. As the area gets warmer, it is opening up to new activities such as fishing, oil and gas exploration, shipping, and tourism. This convention provides the international framework to deal with these new opportunities.

• The fourth development is that the convention’s bodies are now up and running. The body that makes recommendations regarding countries’ continental shelves beyond 200 nautical miles is actively considering submissions from over 40 countries without the participation of a U.S. commissioner.

She argued eloquently that day for us to take our seat at the table where maritime disputes worldwide will be settled diplomatically and scoffed at and refuted predictions that this treaty would put our military on black helicopters wearing blue helmets (the argument we have been hearing from the Tea Party since they first co-opted the Gadsden flag) .  Regardless of her logical arguments and the clear benefits of ratification, L.O.S.T.  was killed on July 17 of this year perhaps never to be revived.  Here is how it was deep-sixed.

Tuesday, Jul 17, 2012 05:22 PM EDT

Tea Party torpedoes Law of Sea Treaty

How the far right managed to kill a naval treaty that nearly everyone else supported

By Alex Seitz-Wald
What if there were a piece of legislation in Congress today that had broad bipartisan support along with the strong backing of the military and the most powerful business interests in the country? That seems almost unheard of in today’s polarized world, so it should sail through Congress, right? Well, 34 senators, led by Tea Party hero Jim DeMint of South Carolina, effectively killed it last night. The Law of the Sea Treaty (which goes by the unfortunate acronym LOST) would codify a host of international navigational, territorial and mineral exploration rules that the country has abided by since the Reagan administration. But a faction of Tea Party senators have secured enough opposition to stop the treaty before it even makes it to the Senate floor.
Read more >>>>

Fast-forward to yesterday and the Chinese press greeting our top diplomat.

Hillary Clinton arrives in China to stinging personal attacks in state media

September 5, 2012
BEIJING
US and China remain at impasse over Syria and tension persists over long-running territorial wrangle in South China Sea
Personal and stinging attacks in the state media heralded the US secretary of state‘s arrival in Beijing. “Many people in China dislike Hillary Clinton,” said an editorial in the state-run Global Times. “She has brought new and extremely profound mutual distrust between the mainstream societies of the two countries.” Such stringent remarks were extremely unusual on the eve of a visit by a US secretary of state, noted Shi Yinhong, an expert on the bilateral relationship.
While Clinton’s press conference with Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi was more civil, it suggested no sign of movement on key issues. The two countries remain at an impasse over Syria and tension persists over the complicated and long-running territorial wrangle in the South China Sea, involving China and numerous other regional powers.
Read more >>>>

Hillary Clinton targeted in anti-U.S. Chinese editorials

• By Alexander Abad-Santos

Hillary Clinton met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing Tuesday. Jim Watson/AP

Hillary Clinton arrived in China on Tuesday, in what's likely to be her last trip there as Secretary of State, but that milestone didn't stop China's state-run media outlets from printing scathing editorials about her and the U.S.'s growing unpopularity in the country. "Many Chinese people do not like Hillary Clinton, her personal antipathy to the Chinese public ..." reads (via Google translation) an editorial in China's nationalist newspaper Global Times, entitled "Secretary Clinton: the person who deeply reinforces US-China mutual suspicion." The editorial goes on to read (via a translation from NBC News's Ed Flanagan), "She makes the Chinese public dislike and be wary of the United States, which does not necessarily serve U.S. foreign policy interests." Well, that's pretty blunt. What upsets the Chinese government has been President Obama's newfound focus on the Asia-Pacific region, which means more attention is paid toward China and its territorial disputes in the South China Sea. And Clinton, despite enjoying her highest popularity ratings stateside, has become the bullseye for unhappy Chinese nationalists even if she won't be continuing her role as the country's top diplomat--Clinton has said she was retiring at the end of this year. (We probably shouldn't tell them about the VP rumors.) Xinhua, the country's state-run news service was at least bit more diplomatic about being undiplomatic, with an editorial that read (via a New York Times translation), "The United States should stop its role as a sneaky troublemaker sitting behind some nations in the region and pulling strings."
Read more >>>>

Hillary Clinton is accustomed to  attacks.  It is doubtful that any of this bothered her on a personal level, but the fact that the U.S. has no commissioner at the Law of the Sea convention makes it far more difficult for her to negotiate in favor of our friends and partners in maritime disputes with China over territorial rights.  We have no voice in this international body.  So as China expands its borders and sea shelf while disparaging our top diplomat and sneering at her efforts, we have the Tea Party to thank.  They effectively trapped her in a lobster-cage.

Hillary Cinton with Gary Locke and Embassy Beijing Staff and Familiesand Families

Meeting with Embassy Staff and Families

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
   Secretary of State

Gary Locke
   Ambassador to China

Embassy Beijing

Beijing, China

September 5, 2012

---

AMBASSADOR LOCKE: Well, welcome everyone. And we’re so honored to have Secretary Hillary Clinton with us today. And she brought the beautiful weather, so let’s thank her for the – (cheers) – beautiful weather and the very clean air. But she’s with us in the midst of another extremely busy globetrotting itinerary from the Cook Islands down near New Zealand then to Indonesia, up here to China. She came in last evening. Then she’s going to go back down tonight to Timor-Leste and then off to Brunei and then back up to Vladivostok for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
It means to all of us, Secretary Clinton, that you’re here to take time to meet and greet our Embassy and their families. We know that this is very much in character, however, with her remarkable tenure as Secretary of State. She’s traveled more than – get a load of this – 865,000 miles and visited more than 100 countries. And China was her very first trip abroad as Secretary of State, and since then she has spent more than 365 days on the road in – a full year in less than four years as Secretary of State.
I have to let you know that the Secretary’s dedication and stamina and – are absolutely amazing. As I indicated, she came in last night. Our very first meetings with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and top Chinese Government officials started at nine o’clock and did not end until almost one o’clock in the morning. Everyone else in the room, including the Chinese and the American staff, were falling asleep, having a hard time. (Laughter.) I was fidgeting in my chair, trying to stay alert. And I look over to Secretary Clinton. She’s sitting perfectly straight up, at full attention and alert. And your mom would be very, very proud. (Laughter.) Very energized.
But you cannot capture her remarkable career in public service in numbers. She was, of course, an amazing First Lady of the United States of America. She’s been a champion of human rights all around the world, standing up for women’s rights in particular. And we all remember her very, very first trip to China, in where she famously said that women’s rights are human rights. (Cheers and applause.) But her commitment to public service runs deep, and after serving as our nation’s First Lady, she was a very effective U.S. senator who gained bipartisan respect, something that we need a lot more of in the United States Congress these days.
For our own part, Mona and I have valued her as a friend and as a colleague. And we have a picture – we can show her the picture – in our home of Mona and myself with Secretary Clinton, then First Lady Clinton, and President Clinton during the Clintons’ 1996 reelection campaign. And Mona and I – we were running for governor in Washington and we are on bus trip through the back route of Washington State, and President Clinton and First Lady Clinton were giving us advice on how to be public servants.
And I don’t think you’ll ever forget also that later when our several-month-old Emily was on your shoulder, and you were carrying her on your shoulder. And she was, of course, the First Lady of America visiting the State of Washington, and our few-month-old baby girl, of course, when you’re on someone’s shoulder, had a little bit of a burp. (Laughter.)

But we’re so proud and honored to have you here. And I’ve served with you when you were First Lady and we were governor. I served with you as fellow cabinet members under President Obama’s Administration, and now I’m just so proud and honored to be part of your State Department team here in Beijing. (Applause.)
Madam Secretary, as you can see today, we have a large number of employees and families here to see you, and the hours and the miles you’ve spent on the road speak to your dedication, and the enthusiastic audience here today reflects our appreciation for all of your hard work, but also our admiration for your leadership, courage, tenacity, and stamina. I know that the people of China actually have a very special fondness for you, and I learned just recently that in Mandarin many Chinese refer you to as Secretary Xi-la-li, or Secretary Hillary. They refer to you like a friend.
On behalf of the men and women and the families from the State Department and all foreign affairs agencies here at Embassy Beijing, we thank you again for being here today. You’ve been to China as our nation’s First Lady, a U.S. senator, and now as Secretary of State. And this probably your – perhaps your last visit in that capacity as Secretary of State, but we expect to see you back again in another capacity in government after 2016. (Cheers and applause.) We’re looking for an even higher title then.

Ladies and gentlemen, our great honor to have with us, our great boss, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Cheers and applause.)
SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes, I’ll be back as ambassador – (laughter) – a great opportunity to serve and to be a colleague of such extraordinary public servants as all of you.
As the Ambassador said, I’ve known Gary and Mona for many years now, and I am so pleased to see the impact they are both having on China and in furthering our relationship, which is so vital to both of our countries. I really am so grateful. It’s hard to believe that it was only last August that you were sworn in as our ambassador. It’s gone by very quickly. It’s been somewhat of an eventful year here at Embassy Beijing. And there’s no surprise on my part at a lot of the accomplishments that have taken place under Gary’s leadership. And I’m so pleased that Mona can be a great ambassador as well to the Chinese people. She is one of our great assets here on behalf of American diplomacy. So to both Gary and Mona and to your three children, thank you for serving your country in such a wonderful way. (Applause.)
And I want to thank DCM Bob Wang. Thank you, Bob, for your service as well. And all of you, I’m sure, know how important we feel about what we’re doing here in the Asia Pacific, and in particular in the U.S.-China relationship. It’s a complicated relationship. There’s no doubt about that. But we believe strongly it’s a vital relationship and one of the most important in determining the kind of future that we’ll have for the beautiful children and young people that I just took a picture with outside.
We have – and have said it many times – a commitment to a successful China, a China that continues to serve the needs economically of their own people, but also a China that is a positive force for global security, stability, and prosperity. Now, we are blazing new territory here, trying to find the right balance between cooperation and competition. We literally are figuring it out each day, and we are counting on all of you and your colleagues, not only here in Beijing but across China, to help us do just that. It means a lot of long hours and a lot of extra work, but we are grateful to you.
Our mission to China has almost 2,000 employees, representatives from 19 different federal agencies. That alone shows what a premium we place on the relationship. And when I worked to try to combine all of the dialogues that were happening when the Obama Administration came into office, I said I wanted to create an umbrella, because we have so many different agencies and concerns that are being acted on every day. We need to be sure that we coordinate more effectively. So the Strategic and Economic Dialogue was meant to be the mechanism for that level of coordination and to develop habits of cooperation between and among our governments.
It is not just the size that matters. Obviously, this is a very large country and will require a large American presence. But it is the way you have translated this mission into results for Chinese and Americans alike. I told Gary that one of the unbelievable accomplishments of his tenure in really less than a year is the way you have set records for processing visas. You really made a difference in accelerating the ability of Chinese to come to the United States. Because I believe firmly in these people-to-people transactions, our business-to-business transactions, our student exchanges, recreation, and travel. We need to keep that flow going. And I am very grateful for the way that you have set the standard.
We have tried to support you in that, but the work has been done by this mission here in Beijing and across the country. We brag everywhere we go, I and others in the State Department, about everything you’ve done to improve the speed and volume of visa processing. But I think it bears repeating, dropping wait times from more than 50 days in 2011 to six days is hugely impressive. And when you translate those visas into tourist spending and new business investment, it has a direct impact on our own economic recovery back home. So more Chinese students, more business people, more tourists. And I understand you are on pace to process as many as 1.4 million visa applications this year. So I want you all to give yourselves a round of applause for such an amazing achievement. (Applause.)
And there’s so much else that you do every single day. Those of you not working directly in consular affairs, you’re working to advance human rights and democracy in a very challenging and fast-paced environment. And I want to take just a moment to remember that when I was here in May I was proud to present our Department-wide Human Rights Award to four winners from mission China. I want to, again, reiterate how important your work is in promoting the universal values that we believe in and that we think are the birthright of every human being. Human rights are as fundamental with our agenda with China as economic statecraft, so I thank you for your dedication and commitment. And again, let’s give a round of applause to all the working on behalf of human rights and democracy. (Applause.)
Now, I will take credit for the clear day and the pollution-free environment – (laughter) – but I know that it’s something that affects you, and particularly if you have children here, something that you are concerned about, especially during the hot summer months. So I want to thank the Embassy and the environment, science, and technology and health staff for your commitment to monitoring and improving the air quality for everyone who works in our facilities. You’re not only helping people stay healthy, but you’re leading by example and keeping the focus on a major problem that affects many millions of Chinese citizens as well. I know that there was a little bit of grief for publicizing the air pollution quality measurements, but I think that was all to the good, because it really is important to get information that can help people, whether they’re here on our Embassy team or out in the communities here and around China.
I also want to thank our local Chinese staff. I know how challenging it is from time to time to be part of this incredible effort we’re undertaking to improve relations between our two countries and to put us on a very firm foundation for the future. But could all our local Chinese staff just raise your hands? Because I want to give you a round of applause as well. (Applause.) It’s true all over the world that ambassadors and Secretaries of State come and go, but our locally employed staff remain the link between the United States and the people of China. You’re the memory bank and the nerve center, and we are grateful to you for your expertise and experience.
To all of our team here, Chinese and American staff and families alike, thank you. Thank you for your commitment, and in many cases your sacrifice. Particularly for Americans, I know living so far from home, from family, from friends can be a challenge. But this is what you signed up for. You signed up for going out into the world and exercising American influence on behalf of American values and American interests and American security. And we could not – we absolutely could not – expect to make progress in this vital relationship without you being willing to do so.
So for me, I am personally honored to serve with colleagues like all of you. I think it’s an especially tumultuous but exciting time in history to be working on behalf of the United States, and especially here in China. It’s exciting for me to come back and see the progress that has taken place here in China and to be determined that we’re going to keep forging this positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship that President Obama and President Hu Jintao have committed to.
I just finished a very long press conference with Foreign Minister Yang, and he was asked, look – by the Chinese press – don’t you think America’s just out to contain you and don’t you think that conflict is inevitable? And he said what I had said earlier in the press conference: We are trying to do something which has never been done before, where you have a rising power and a dominant power. And as that rising power assumes greater and greater influence and reach far beyond its borders, we want to see China be a responsible global leader, on the side of helping to solve problems and prevent conflict.
Yes. Do we have disagreements? Of course. What two nations don’t? What two people don’t? That seems to be obvious to me. And we will continue to be forthright about our disagreements, whether it’s on human rights or the South China Sea or anything else. But overall we are committed to ensuring that we find as many areas of cooperation as possible and that we produce practical results for our people and the Chinese people, as well as the region and the world.
So when we talk about our people-to-people exchanges – some of you helped when I did that last May; it was genuinely moving to see the young American student and the young Chinese student talking about what it had meant to their lives to have studied in the other country – when we talk about the 100,000 Strong, when we are trying to convey more clearly what Americans stand for, when we had the Shanghai Expo and the USA pavilion was staffed by young Americans of every ethnic and racial background, speaking Chinese, hosting all of the visitors who were coming, we are building connections, government-to-government, people-to-people. And we could not do that without all of you and the many hundreds of others who work with you every single day.
Now, I am going to try to shake as many hands as I can before I leave. I only have three more meetings and a dinner left. (Laughter.) But I hope that you know how grateful we are in Washington. We are well aware that we could not do what we are attempting without all of you.
So Gary and Mona, thank you for being such a dynamic duo, leading our Embassy. I love reading about the tweets and the blogs about Gary’s backpack – (laughter) – and buying coffee. And I want to see more about you, Mona. I want to see you out there meeting and working with and interacting with more Chinese people as well. Because we want to have a full court press so everybody knows that we are committed to this relationship, committed to the ongoing depth and breadth of it, and that we are going to persevere through the difficult and challenging times, some of which you might remember from last May here at the Embassy, because we know it is ultimately in the interest of the United States and China and the world for us to do so.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)

###

Video: Secretary Clinton Swears-in Gary Locke as Ambassador to China

Remarks at Swearing-In Ceremony for Ambassador to China Gary Locke

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Capricia Penavic Marshall
Chief of Protocol

Gary Locke, Ambassador to China

Washington, DC

August 1, 2011

---

AMBASSADOR MARSHALL: Well, good afternoon. Good afternoon and welcome. It is my pleasure as the chief of protocol to welcome you to the State Department’s Treaty Room for the swearing-in of Gary Locke to be the next Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. (Applause.) We are very privileged this afternoon to have the Secretary of State, the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, officiating the ceremony, but we’re also very happy to have the new ambassador’s family with us today – his wife Mona, his lovely daughters Emily and Madeline, and his son Dylan. (Applause.)

We are also very happy to have join us the chargé from the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China Republic of China and his wife Shi Ling. I would also like to acknowledge the ambassador of Kuwait and Mrs. Al Sabah; the ambassador of Japan Ambassador Fujisaki; the U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk; Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce Dr. Rebecca Blank; former ambassador to China, the Honorable James Sasser; former NSC senior director and former ambassador to Namibia, the Honorable Jeffrey Bader; as well as many, many other current and former official ambassadors who are with us today.

Please join me in welcoming these honored guests. (Applause.) We will begin our ceremony this afternoon with remarks from the Secretary, who will then administer the oath of office to our new ambassador, then the signing of the appointment papers, followed with remarks by Ambassador Locke.

It is now my great pleasure and honor to introduce the Secretary of State.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I am so delighted that this day has finally come. (Laughter.) And I am especially grateful to Gary’s and Mona and their children and to all of you for your patience and persistence in ensuring that we would be here at the swearing-in of Gary Locke as our ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. And it is an exciting and proud day for this Administration to be sending Gary and his wonderful family to China. I especially want to welcome the chargé and other members of the diplomatic community and so many friends from the Administration.

It goes pretty much without saying, but I will say it anyway, that our relationship with China is an extraordinarily important one that we think has a great substance to it and a great deal to what kind of future we will enjoy together in the 21^st century. We are two complex, large nations with different histories and different political systems, but we know the importance of getting to know one another better, working together, solving problems together, and that is what we have been committed to doing.

And I am confident that we have the right person in Gary Locke to follow through on the commitment made by President Obama and President Hu Jintao to a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship. Gary is going to Beijing at a time when there will be a lot of work for us to do to follow up on with the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, that there will be many difficult issues and challenges to face. But I know that Gary is more than ready to tackle that.

And there’s hardly anyone we could be sending who has a reputation for working as hard as Gary Locke. I’ve known Gary a long time, and some of you have known him even longer, and you know that he has the reputation of being an extraordinarily hard worker. When he was a state representative, a Seattle newspaper once called him, and I quote, “The man who mistook his life for the legislature.” (Laughter.) But that was before Mona. (Laughter.) Because I knew Gary before Mona. (Laughter.) And Mona, we’re really glad that you’re also going to Beijing. (Laughter.)

But think about the story that Gary takes with him, the son of an immigrant family from China who didn’t learn to speak English until he started school, whose grandfather came to the United States from China in the 1890s and worked as a house servant in return for English lessons, whose father and mother worked in their mom-and-pop grocery seven days a week, 365 days a year, so their five children would have better lives. The Locke family understood what the American dream meant. They knew that it was an opportunity and not a guarantee, and that they had to do their part to be able to take advantage of what this country offered.

And Gary did – an honor student, an Eagle Scout, scholarships, all kinds of experiences at Yale and getting his law degree at Boston University, and then returning to Washington to become a state representative and a county executive of King County and a two-time governor of Washington State, until recently, when he became our Secretary of Commerce.

And Gary’s hard work didn’t just help his family. He helped improve the lives of the people of Washington and of the United States. He was a great job creator in Washington during two national recessions. He has helped to lead our efforts to increase U.S. exports. He has brought the Census in on time and under budget, an unheard of accomplishment. He’s brought comprehensive patent reform legislation closer to passage than it has in decades. And there’s just so much else that can be pointed to in such a history of distinction in his many public service responsibilities. And now, he becomes the first Chinese American to represent the United States as ambassador in Beijing.

Now, as serious as he is, those of us who know him know that he can loosen up. (Laughter.) And I’ve heard the stories about singing the night that he won the governorship in front of casts of hundreds. I love the story about how he proposed to Mona with a banner attached to a little airplane that flew by that said, “Mona, I love you. Will you marry me?” And I think for his three children, they should know that he says all the time that, despite being a governor or a cabinet secretary, the most important job he’s ever had is being your father. And I thank you for going with your father to Beijing. (Laughter.) Because I know it’s not easy, but I believe you’re going to have an amazing experience, and I know how much it will mean to the people of China to meet all of you as well.

Gary, I also know that you wish your late father, Jimmy, were standing here today, because you know how proud your family would be that you are, in a sense, going full circle on this journey that brought them here and now brings you to Beijing.

So if we’re ready, I think we will administer the oath with Mona holding the Bible and you standing here. And please raise your right hand and – you’ve done this a few times before – (laughter) – and repeat after me.

(The Oath of Office is administered.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Congratulations, Ambassador. (Applause.)

AMBASSADOR LOCKE: This is to sign up for the payroll deduction? (Laughter.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: That all comes later. (Laughter.)

(The appointment papers were signed.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Excellent. (Applause.)

AMBASSADOR LOCKE: Well, thank you very much, Secretary Clinton, and Ambassador Marshall for presiding, and all of our honored guests – Ambassador Sasser, I see Carla Hills here, members of the Cabinet, Ron Kirk, and also Fred Hochberg of the Export-Import Bank, Chris Liu of the White House, and a lot of colleagues from the Department of Commerce, and friends and family from the West Coast. It’s great to all have you here.

I’m really deeply humbled and honored to become the next United States ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. And I’d like to thank President Obama, Secretary Clinton, the United States Senate, for their support, their confidence, and their trust in me. I also want recognize and thank Chargé d’Affaires Deng from the People’s Republic of China, and many other friends and colleagues who are here today. With my family – my wife Mona and our children Emily, Dylan, and Madeline – we’re excited to have this opportunity to serve the President and the people of the United States of America.

The United States and China have a profoundly important and complex diplomatic, economic, and strategic bilateral relationship – one with challenges, no question, but one which also holds great promise for extended cooperation and collaboration. I look forward to working with the Chinese Government to fulfill that promise, but more importantly, to build the positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship that President Obama and President Hu have agreed that our two countries should aspire to. We are already seeing examples of how this future can play out as our businesses and our governments collaborate to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges. And I fully intend to support our ongoing bilateral and cooperative efforts on a host of critical international issues from climate change to the search for new, cleaner sources of energy, to stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials, and to promote new areas of collaboration.

It’s been my good fortune over the past decade to have had the opportunity to visit and meet with many Chinese Government officials and private sector executives in support of greater commercial cooperation and market access for U.S. goods and services. I look forward to continuing this dialogue, creating win-win scenarios for both of our countries, because American businesses and workers can help China meet its goals of modernization as well as improving the quality of life for the Chinese people, all at the same time creating jobs here at home for workers of America.

In those sensitive areas where America and China have differences or serious disagreement, I will work to keep the lines of communication open, to convey the Administration’s positions clearly, and to engage with Chinese Government officials at the highest levels. At the same time, I hope to do more to communicate directly with the Chinese people to improve understanding between our two great nations.

I firmly believe improved U.S.-China cooperation is critically important, not just for our own two countries but for the world community. As a child of Chinese immigrants growing up in the State of Washington, having the opportunity to represent America, the land of my birth, and to represent American values was surely beyond any dream I could possibly have. And I can only imagine just how proud my dad, Jimmy, who passed away in January, would be for his son to be the first Chinese American to represent the United States in the land of his and my mother’s birth. It may be cliché to say only in America, but in this case and for this role, it is both profoundly true and profoundly important. It is America and America’s promise as a land of freedom, equality, and opportunity that I will represent when serving the President and the American people as the United States ambassador to China.

Let me just say that I can’t end without acknowledging the great team and colleagues I’ve had at the Department of Commerce. It’s been one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. And our folks at the Department of Commerce, both the political and the career, have done amazing work. And I am just so proud of the opportunity to have worked with them.

And finally, my success in government is due to Mona. Secretary Clinton talks about the pre-Mona days. (Laughter.) Some of you here know that. I hope you all agree that the after-Mona days are much, much better. (Laughter and applause.) But my success in government is due to Mona, and she has been a constant, an incredible confidante, advisor, and has really kept me true and straight. In fact, I think that – I remember during the campaign for governor, so many people wrote us and said, “I’m voting for you only because of Mona.” (Laughter.) And I truly believe that for me to be successful in representing the United States in China, it will have to be a team collaborative effort with Mona. She has incredible instincts, incredible compass, and completely grounded in our family. And I thank you for your love and that support.

Our family is embarking on an adventure and a challenge, and we are eager to begin. Thank you very much for joining us today. (Applause.)

AMBASSADOR MARSHALL: On behalf of the ambassador and his family, we thank you for joining this ceremony, and we welcome you now to offer your own personal congratulations to the new ambassador in a receiving line in front of the podium. Again, congratulations, Ambassador Locke. (Applause.)