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US China Envoy Hints at Presidential Campaign

   VOA News 03 January 2011

Photo: US Embassy

   Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to China in Tibet (FILE).

   A leading U.S. news magazine says the American ambassador in China may
   be  thinking  of  challenging  U.S. President Barack Obama in the 2012
   elections.
   [1]Newsweek  magazine says Ambassador Jon Huntsman refused to rule out
   a run for president in 2012, during an interview in mid-December.  It
   quoted  unidentified  associates  of  Huntsman saying he discussed the
   prospects  of a run with former political advisers while in the United
   States for the Christmas holiday.
   Such  a  move  would  likely  require Huntsman to return to the United
   States  from  Beijing  sometime  this year. Even before that, it would
   complicate his relations with senior officials in Washington.
   Huntsman,  a  member  of  the  Republican  party,  was governor of the
   western  state  of  Utah  when  Mr.  Obama,  a  Democrat, named him as
   ambassador  to  Beijing  in  2009.   The  appointment  was seen as an
   attempt  at  bipartisan  cooperation,  but some analysts suggested Mr.
   Obama was seeking to get a potential rival out of the way.
   Newsweek  quotes  Huntsman  saying  he  is  "really  focused"  on  his
   responsibilities  in  Beijing.   But  he also says, "We won't do this
   forever,  and  I  think we may have one final run [for office] left in
   our bones."

References

   1. http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/04/the-manchurian-candidate.html

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