President Obama is planning to nominate Gary Locke (駱家輝), the first Chinese-American governor in the U.S., as Commerce Secretary, administration officials have said. According to news reports, Locke has strong ties to China. From Reuters:
President Barack Obama is expected to announce on Wednesday that he is nominating Locke to be commerce secretary after his two previous nominees withdrew.
Locke was the first Chinese American governor in U.S. history. During his two terms as governor from 1997 through 2004 he led eight trade missions to China and opened a Washington state trade office in Guangzhou.
Locke first met Chinese President Hu Jintao on those trips and later helped plan and coordinate Hu’s September 2005 visit to Washington state.
See also “Obama’s New Commerce Choice: Wonkish and Connected to China” from BusinessWeek and “Commerce Pick Carries Lengthy China Résumé” from the New York Times. Below is an AP report: