New U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke (駱家輝) with his wife Mona and three children met the media at his ambassadorial residence in Beijing. (The Speech by Gary Locke)
President Obama named 61-year-old Gary Locke new U.S. Ambassador to China on March 9. On August 1st, Locke was sworn in as the first Chinese American on this position in American history.According to the passengers on the same flight to China, during the 11 hours long flight, the Locke family were very low key on the plane, they kept no different from ordinary passengers and just rest in their seats in most of the time.Locke was born in Seattle, Washington, USA on January 21, 1950. His family root can be traced back to Taishan City, Guangdong Province, China. He is the third-generation Chinese immigrant in America. Locke demostrated academic excellence since the childhood. He was educated at Yale University and Boston University, served as governor of Washington and the U.S. Commerce Secretary.Locke once said, to be the U.S. ambassador to China is by far his "most difficult task." Agence France-Presse reported that he became the ambassador to China at the moment when "US-China relations are tense." In today's media conference, Locke said, as the descendants of Chinese immigrants, and now on behalf of the American people and American values to serve as ambassador to China, he felt both humbled and honored."Our family is very honored to have the opportunity to serve for the U.S. President and the American people, we are going through an adventure and challenge. We hope to continue and deepen friendship with old friends in China, and make more new friends."Locke married former television anchor Mona Lee (Li Meng) in 1994, they have two daughters and a son. Before that Locke had a short marriage. Mona Lee was "Miss Asia" of the U.S. in 1986.Although Locke has a deep background and China-related working experience, he was far from "pro-China." When serving as the U.S. Commerce Secretary, he was very tough to China on issues like exchange rates.
