Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr Representing America and The Church

Newsweek International has a excellent article about John Hunstman Jr., the U.S. Ambassador to China, that is worth reading. The former Republican Governor of Utah has had a long experience of building good will between China and America but also in building a relationship between China and the LDS Church.

Here's an interesting paragraph from the Newsweek article:

He publicly declared Mandarin Chinese a "strategic" language, vital to America's future, and Utah became the first state to pass legislation to include it in public-school curricula. Surprisingly many Chinese officials return from visits to America saying their fondest memories are of Utah. Sharing meals with Mormon families and being serenaded by American schoolchildren in Chinese seems to make a big impression on travelers from the People's Republic. "They said, 'If a state governor can have kids singing in our own language, it's even better than traditional diplomacy,' " says Shawn Hu, a former Utah state trade representative who helped arrange numerous Utah trips for Chinese delegations.

Some people are speculating that John Huntsman will run in 2016. If he runs, that will be an election China will watch closely.