Gary Locke was named the new U.S. ambassador to China during a brief announcement by President Barack Obama on March 9 in Washington. Locke is the U.S. secretary of commerce and was the first ethnic Chinese governor of Washington state. His new position awaits approval by the Senate.
The change of guard follows Jon Huntsman’s announcement that he would step down as ambassador. It closely follows Huntsman meeting with the press after American journalists were severely beaten by Chinese authorities.
State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley described the issue as “a subject of longstanding concern and longstanding discussion with China,” during a March 8 Department of State (DOS) press briefing, according to an official transcript.
On Feb. 27, Chinese authorities violently broke up protests in Beijing, attacked American journalists who were present, seized their equipment, and illegally detained them. According to the Washington Post, “one videographer was beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized.”
China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi denied that the beatings took place, despite video evidence. The incident followed new laws the Chinese regime put in place about foreign journalists over the weekend, which require government permission to interview anyone in a public area in China, the Washington Post reported.
The regime’s tightening grip on American and other foreign journalists comes amid growing concern in the regime that the revolutions sweeping through the Middle East will soon reach its doors.
On Feb. 28, Huntsman met with the reporters who were beaten and detained by Chinese authorities. Crowley said during a Feb. 28 DOS press briefing, “We are deeply concerned that the Chinese authorities did not protect the safety and property of these journalists, and we expect them to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
The change of guard follows Jon Huntsman’s announcement that he would step down as ambassador. It closely follows Huntsman meeting with the press after American journalists were severely beaten by Chinese authorities.
State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley described the issue as “a subject of longstanding concern and longstanding discussion with China,” during a March 8 Department of State (DOS) press briefing, according to an official transcript.
On Feb. 27, Chinese authorities violently broke up protests in Beijing, attacked American journalists who were present, seized their equipment, and illegally detained them. According to the Washington Post, “one videographer was beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized.”
China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi denied that the beatings took place, despite video evidence. The incident followed new laws the Chinese regime put in place about foreign journalists over the weekend, which require government permission to interview anyone in a public area in China, the Washington Post reported.
The regime’s tightening grip on American and other foreign journalists comes amid growing concern in the regime that the revolutions sweeping through the Middle East will soon reach its doors.
On Feb. 28, Huntsman met with the reporters who were beaten and detained by Chinese authorities. Crowley said during a Feb. 28 DOS press briefing, “We are deeply concerned that the Chinese authorities did not protect the safety and property of these journalists, and we expect them to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
