IT'S ONLY A REWARDING PICK TO THE EXTENT IT'S RISKY:

Utah Governor Chosen as Ambassador to China (JEFF ZELENY, 5/17/09, NY Times)

Mr. Huntsman, 49, learned to speak Mandarin Chinese from his time as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan. He has worked in the two Bush administrations, serving as ambassador to Singapore in the final year of President George Bush’s term and as a deputy trade ambassador for President George W. Bush. Mr. Huntsman’s name was floated as a possible ambassador to China for the second President Bush, who instead sent Clark T. Randt Jr., a longtime friend and a lawyer with Asia experience.

Political and diplomatic veterans called Mr. Huntsman a good choice.

“China is a place where we really need to have more of a bipartisan approach and I think he would contribute to that,” said James Sasser, a former Democratic senator from Tennessee who was ambassador to China under President Bill Clinton. “I think it does take the politics out of it to a considerable degree.”

Michael Green, who was the top Asia adviser to the younger Mr. Bush, said Mr. Huntsman was well suited for the challenges ahead. “U.S.-China relations can get rough and tumble over the next few years,” Mr. Green said, citing Beijing’s economic and military expansion. “All of that is going to be harder, not easier, so putting someone in who knows China but is seen as firm is a good thing — particularly someone who can bring along moderate Republicans.”

For Mr. Obama, the selection of Mr. Huntsman is something of a political coup. Mr. Huntsman has emerged as one of the nation’s most visible Republican governors since he won a second term last year and was expected to at least consider seeking his party’s presidential nomination to run against Mr. Obama.

It seems doubtful that the President understands what a risk he's taking with this move. Both his personal beliefs and his political ambitions give Mr. Huntsman good reason to speak out about human rights in China, especially the treatment of the religious. This would hardly be welcomed by the ChiComs and, because Mr. Obama would be forced to side with his Ambassador, cedes significant political ammunition to a member of the other party.

On the other hand, if Mr. huntsman has been purposely chosen to trouble China precisely so that the UR can defend him and attack them then it's a move of genius.

Which do you bet on?

MORE:
China finds Rudd 'more difficult' than Howard (Rowan Callick, May 18, 2009, The Australian

INTERNATIONAL analysts in China are starting to claim that Beijing is finding it difficult to deal with Kevin Rudd, and the Chinese leadership was more comfortable with John Howard than the current Prime Minister.

The claim, from one of China's most influential security experts, comes as the federal Opposition starts to break away from the bipartisanship on China, with Malcolm Turnbull taking a different approach on investment and on security.

Controversies have swirled around the Australia-China relationship this year, including the $26billion Chinalco bid for 18 per cent of Rio Tinto, the defence white paper's focus on China's military rise, the unheralded visit of propaganda chief Li Changchun and Chinese-Australian businesswoman Helen Liu's sponsorship of Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon. Zhu Feng, deputy director of the School of International Studies at Beijing University and a frequent consultant to the Chinese Government and corporate sector, said: "When Mr Rudd was elected, there was an expectation that a more intimate relationship between the countries would result, because he knows China so well and speaks Chinese.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 17, 2009 8:04 AM