WASHINGTON - Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, the nominee of United States ambassador to China, waltzed through the Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday. He told friendly panelists that balancing the trade deficit and reaching out to the Chinese public will become his job priorities.

If confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Locke will become the first Chinese-American to serve as ambassador to China, where his parents were born.

The possible envoy-to-be did not meet tough challenges from the senators. It was expected that Congress might use the opportunity to press the Obama administration on sensitive issues, such as currency. The committee is expected to confirm Locke soon, but the vote date is not decided yet.

Senator John Kerry, the committee's chairman, said he expected Locke to become the ambassador.

"I believe the president has made a wise choice in nominating you," he said in his opening remarks.

With his whole family - wife, Mona, and three children, Emily, Dylan and Madeline - sitting behind him during the hearing, Locke described his understanding of the position and the bilateral relationship as well as his goals.

"Should I be confirmed, I will work to build the positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship that President (Barack) Obama and Chinese President Hu (Jintao) have agreed our two countries should aspire to," he said.

He said he will remain committed to promote the commercial cooperation with China, as he has been doing for more than a decade. Improving the investment environment in China, strengthening the intellectual property protection, and seeking more collaboration in clean energy are on his agenda.

When Obama nominated Locke to be the new ambassador to China in March, he expected that Locke's Chinese ancestry, understanding of China and trade expertise would help American companies get more access to the Chinese market and boost US exports.

Recently, the commerce secretary has expressed his grave concerns about the commercial environment during many public occasions.

Before the third round of the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue earlier this month in the US capital, he again raised concerns about China's intellectual property rights protection and a series of discriminative policies against foreign companies and urged for a more transparent process of decision making.

Locke then touched a series of security issues during the statement, including developing the military-to-military relationship with China, Taiwan questions and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and Iran's nuclear program.

"I hope to be an able messenger of the Obama administration's policies for the Asian-Pacific region generally, and to the Chinese government specifically, if confirmed," he said in his prepared statement.

Another priority for him is to be more engaged in public diplomacy by reaching out directly to the Chinese people.

"My goal will be to express, as directly as possible, the values that America stands for and the desires for ever-closer bonds of friendship between our two peoples," he said.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/27/2011 page1)