Welcome To Beijing, Mr. Ambassador

Ambassador Gary Locke, America’s first Chinese-American Governor and America’s Tenth Ambassador to China (and only Chinese-American to hold the post) was the guest of honor at a lunch today, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China and the US-China Business Council. He’s had an interesting and rather unusual time of it so far, in ways that were also, probably, unexpected.

First, some background:

When I was a young boy -- maybe 10 or 11 years old -- I had a chance encounter with one of the many members of the Rockefeller family that lived in suburban New York. What I remember about that glimpse was that my father used it as a “teachable moment” about values. Strikingly, here was a member of one of America’s then richest families, driving down the road in a well-worn Ford station-wagon; one of those ubiquitous buggies with the big round taillights, mini fins canted up and out at a forty-five degree angle, and fake woodgrain on the side. A Woodie, as we used to call them but, of course, just painted steel that looked, from 30 feet away, like wood. Unassuming and rather modest for someone so unaccountably rich.

So: what does that have to do with welcoming a new American Ambassador to Beijing?

One of the most curious subtexts of Ambassador Gary Locke’s short time here in the Peoples’ Paradise is that he has come in for a bit of chatter from Baidu posters and the Sina Weibo masses for some incongruous, at least for many Chinese, Ambo-sightings. This has nothing to do with Amb. Locke’s speeches. It has everything to do with something more akin to his political body language.

The first sighting was a photo of the new ambassador on his departure from Seattle-Tacoma Int’l Airport, on his way to Beijing. He did something totally unremarkable for most Americans. He bought a Starbucks coffee -- it was Seattle, after all -- while his backpack was slung over his shoulder. My reaction was: well, you have to put your pack over your shoulder so you can use your hands to manage your coffee. The Chinese reaction was completely different: “He bought his own coffee? Why? What’s with that? And he carried his own bag?”

More recently, he’s apparently been scouted tooling around Beijing on a bicycle, shocking the locals even more.

All of this is quintessentially American. At least that part of the American character that most Americans are proud of. Its like a Rockefeller tooling around suburban New York in an everyman’s aging Ford station wagon. And why not? For many Chinese that I’ve heard from, this is a very refreshing thing. A “Senior Official” (and Beijing is overflowing with them) who sees himself as a normal human being (albeit with a pretty interesting and high ranking job)? Bravo!

For many other Chinese, its a sign of America’s inescapable and inevitable decline. High ranking officials, they believe, should let no opportunity escape to remind everyone that they are: powerful; not like you and I; special; held to a different standard; and so on. If you can, and don’t, there must be something wrong. But there’s nothing wrong with Amb. Locke. I’m sure his State Department armored limo is in great condition. He’s just self aware enough to know who he is. Who he really is. In the U.S., no matter the reality, people with either power or money or both want to be seen as being “just everyday folks” or, as the Chinese would say “laobaixing (老百姓)”. Its an eloquent statement, and a welcome one.

So, Mr. Ambassador: Welcome to Beijing!

And Thank You!