去
年一次接受外交召见时，美国驻华大使洪博培（Jon Huntsman Jr.）跳上了他那辆坚固的"永久"牌自行车，骑到了外交部。相关报导
这种非正式的抵达在洪博培看来已经习以为常，尽管对于一个大使来说，这不免有些过于谦卑和不敬。这个会说一口流利汉语的前摩门教传教士是一位亿万富翁的儿子，他为自己设定的宏大目标是使得中美关系这对全球最重要的双边关系变得人性化。
自从2009年担任驻华大使这个美国最重要的外交职位以来，这位前犹他州州长就养成了挑战外交礼节的习惯。在向中国施展个人魅力的同时又令中国感到不安。洪博培也是共和党2012年总统候选人的可能人选。
在过去的一年，这位七个孩子的父亲已经好几次骑着自行车到外交部接受中国官员对美国对台军售等问题的斥责。洪博培过去在盐湖城生活的时候，也曾经把哈雷摩托车当成代步工具。
他那不寻常的做法恰好概括了美中之间日益共生但又冲突不断的复杂关系。而本周中国国家主席胡锦涛访美又将真实再现美中之间的这种关系。胡锦涛主席此次访美是自1997年以来中国国家元首对美国进行的首次正式国事访问。
在胡锦涛主席出发前，就如何向两国各自的国内民众阐释美中关系的重要性，洪博培给两国领导人提出了重要的建议。同时他也亲力亲为，帮助胡锦涛主席安排整个访问行程，确保访问成功。
"如果要我总结出大家都在做什么，我想就是使美中关系人性化，以两国人民都能够理解的方式加以阐释，"50岁的洪博培上周晚些时候在接受采访是这样说到。
Agence France Presse/Getty Images
洪博培在2010年上海世界博览会美国馆开馆日上与参观者握手
上面这句话无论对中国还是对美国来说都一样受用。2008年的全球金融危机过后，中美双方都试图给各自的角色做一个明确的定位，这场危机也加强了中国作为世界强国的实力。
而原先能够稳定两国外交关系的那些确定性因素早就消失殆尽了。冷战期间，由于共同反对前苏联的霸权，中美两国站到了一起。上世纪70年代末期，当中国对外开放的时候，美国企业涌入中国这个新兴的巨大市场，提供商品和服务，并获取了高额利润。现在，经历了去年一系列的公开争议之后，中美两国在试图制定一个尊重双方政治、军事和经济利益的共同议程方面也遇到困难。
在洪博培看来，此次胡锦涛主席访美是一次历史性的访问，因为史上第一次中美两国共同站在了世界的舞台上，双方正试图找到合作共赢的方式。
"我们见过面，但此前的聚光灯从来没有像今天这样耀眼，双方的期望也从来没有这么高。"
对于美国驻华大使这一职位来说，洪博培是一个"非典型"的人选。此前美国总统大都挑选忠心耿耿的政治支持者，这些人一般都从事国家安全工作，或是有很深厚的商界背景。惟一的例外是尚慕杰（James Sasser），他是一位民选官员，1996年至1999年担任驻华大使，不过此时他也正出于政治生涯的晚期了。
因此当奥巴马总统2009年5月任命洪博培出任美国驻华大使这一职位时，华盛顿的权威人士将此举视作奥巴马为谋求连任、赢得2012年总统大选而清除潜在竞争对手的妙招。
如果这确实是奥巴马的意图，那么他也还没锁定胜局：洪博培只答应担任两年的驻华大使，没有排除参加2012年总统选举的可能性。
不过，洪博培的确也非常适合这一职位。此前他曾出任美国驻新加坡大使、美国商务部部长副助理以及贸易副代表等职位，并在塑料家族企业亨斯曼公司（Huntsman Corp.）担任过高管。
Bloomberg News
洪博培的行事风格对于传统外交礼节而言是一个挑战
1971年，11岁的洪博培跟着身为塑料制品生产大亨、尼克松(Richard Nixon)总统特别助手的父亲去了白宫，并见到了基辛格(Henry Kissinger)。当时基辛格正要动身赶往机场，开始一项开启对华外交关系的秘密使命。
洪博培回忆说，他获许把基辛格的公文包拿到了一辆等候的汽车上。
19世纪70年代，洪博培从中学辍学，在一个摇滚乐队当键盘手。之后，他在台湾做了两年摩门传教士，并学习了汉语普通话。后来他重拾学业，获得了宾夕法尼亚大学国际政治学位。
1984年，他第一次去北京。当时他是一名白宫助手，在里根(Ronald Reagan)总统与邓小平的一次会晤中作为陪同人员。
在担任贸易官员及犹他州州长期间，他数次访问中国，学会了与中国官员谈判的技巧。他和夫人还收养了一个被遗弃在扬州一个菜市场中的中国女孩。
与此同时，亨斯曼公司成了在华的一大投资者，拥有至少五个制造厂。
自担任驻华大使以来，洪博培不得不利用以前所有的经验，在中美关系发展经受最严峻考验的时期之一保持两国关系的正常化。
到任不久后，他把约70名中外记者邀请到自己的官邸，用流利的汉语普通话向他们问好，并告诉他们"四处看看，就像在家里一样"。
洪博培还在住所周边地区骑自行车，这也给他加了分。他和妻子会在当地一家火锅店排队等位。他最喜欢的午餐点之一是大使馆附近一个卖麻辣川菜的简单路边摊，即使是对大使馆的工作人员来说都有点太简陋了。
本周，他把当地记者邀请到大使馆，开场就讲述了他七个儿女中的中国养女是兔年生的，以及养女是如何设计他准备发出的贺年片的。
像这样的细小举动无疑会让人油然而生亲切感，在中国官方媒体上带来肯定的赞扬之语。
不过，洪博培的政治前途同样极大地、甚至从更大程度上增强了自己在中国高层官员中的影响和接触。中国高层官员越来越密切地关注美国政局。他对美国和中国政治形势的理解还使他不同寻常地能够解释改善中国在美国公众心目中形像的重要性。
他说，让正在努力支付帐单、努力搞明白我们所生活的这个复杂世界的美国家庭接受中国，认可中国，并理性地看待，这非常难，特别是在当他们看了"德拉吉"(Drudge Report)网站上有关歼-20隐形战斗机试飞的消息之后。
据西方外交同行说，有想法认为洪博培有朝一日理论上可能领导美国，这或许也可以解释他的一些不那么传统的做法为何会不受到追究。
当中国有关部门突然取消了为他安排的7月份的新疆之行时，洪博培还是以一名普通美国公民的身份自己去了新疆。
他说，贸易仍很好，4,000亿美元，规模很大。不过有其他一些可能更加敏感和细微的问题，我认为这些问题是我们做人的一个直接外延。
如果即使你时不时地违规也无法使之与你做的事统一起来，那么我们就和其他任何一个国家没什么两样了。
Jeremy Page
（更新完成）
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
Summoned for a diplomatic dressing down last year, Jon Huntsman Jr., the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, hopped on his sturdy 'Forever' brand Chinese bicycle and pedaled off to the Foreign Ministry.
Flustered guards there, expecting the U.S. representative to sweep up in an armored Cadillac made him park by a side gate and walk in.
The unceremonious arrival--at once suggesting humility and defiance--was typical of Mr. Huntsman, a Mandarin-speaking former Mormon missionary and the son of a billionaire who has set himself the ambitious goal of 'humanizing' the world's most important bilateral relationship.
Since taking over one of America's top ambassadorial posts in 2009, the former Utah governor and possible Republican presidential candidate has made a habit of challenging diplomatic protocol to both charm and unsettle his hosts.
Over the last year, the father of seven children who used to drive a Harley Davidson around Salt Lake City has, in fact, turned up on his bicycle to receive several official reprimands over issues including U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
His unusual approach encapsulates the increasingly symbiotic, yet conflicted relationship between the world's dominant power and its emerging Asian rival, one that will be on display when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington this week for the first state visit since 1997.
Huntsman has given key advice to both sides on how to sell the relationship to their respective domestic audiences ahead of the trip and will be on hand for Hu's full itinerary to help choreograph the visit and ensure its success.
'If I were to summarize kind of what everyone's trying to do I think it's to humanize the U.S.-China relationship, to put it in terms that people on both sides really understand,' Huntsman, 50 years old, said in an interview late last week.
'If you can't humanize the relationship, and prove that it's of value to the average citizen, then they're not going to support it, in which case it's of limited value.'
That message rings as true for Beijing as it does for Washington as they try to define their respective roles in the world following a global financial crisis in 2008 that amplified China's emergence as a world power.
The diplomatic certainties that once anchored relations between the two countries have long disappeared. During the Cold War, they found common cause in opposition to the Soviet Union. When China embraced capitalism in the late 1970s, American businesses rushed in to profit from a vast new market for their goods and services. Now, following a series of public disputes last year, China and the U.S. are struggling to define a common agenda that spans the full range of their political, military and economic interests.
'This is a historic visit in the sense that it's the first time ever that both the United States and China have been on the world stage together and they're trying to figure out how to cooperate,' Huntsman said.
'We've met before but never with the glare of the spotlight quite like it is today and the expectations being as high as they are.'
Huntsman was an unconventional choice for the Beijing job: Previous presidents have mostly chosen loyal political supporters with a strong security or business pedigree. Only one was a former elected official, James Sasser, who served in Beijing from 1996 to 1999, and he was at the end of his political career.
When President Barack Obama asked Huntsman to take the post in May 2009, the move was hailed by some Washington pundits as a way to neutralize a potential rival in the 2012 presidential elections.
If that was indeed the idea, its success is not yet guaranteed--Huntsman agreed to do the job only for two years, and hasn't ruled out running in 2012.
He's unusually qualified to represent the U.S. in China following a career that has also included stints as ambassador to Singapore, deputy assistant commerce secretary, deputy trade representative, and an executive in the family plastics business, Huntsman Corp.
Unlike his predecessors, he has a rare combination of political, linguistic and commercial skills. And perhaps more than any other public figure--American or Chinese--his life encompasses the span of modern China-U.S. relations.
In 1971, as an 11-year-old, Huntsman accompanied his father, a plastics tycoon and special assistant to President Richard Nixon, to the White House and met Henry Kissinger just as he was heading to the airport on a secret mission to open diplomatic contacts with China.
Huntsman recalls being allowed to carry Kissinger's briefcase to a waiting car.
After dropping out of high school in the 1970s to play keyboard in a rock band, Huntsman spent two years living as a Mormon missionary and learning Mandarin in Taiwan, the island that Beijing regards as a rebel province. He later resumed his studies and gained a degree in international politics from the University of Pennsylvania.
He first went to Beijing in 1984 when, as a White House aide, he accompanied Ronald Reagan in a meeting with Deng Xiaoping, China's former leader.
As a trade official and as Utah governor, he visited China several times and learned the art of negotiating with Chinese officials. He and his wife also adopted a Chinese girl who was abandoned in a vegetable market in the eastern city of Yangzhou.
In the meantime, Huntsman Corp. has become a major investor in China, with at least five manufacturing facilities.
Since taking over as ambassador, he has had to draw on all that experience to keep relations on track during one of the most testing periods of their evolution.
Soon after he arrived, he invited about 70 Chinese and foreign reporters to his residence, greeted them in fluent Mandarin, and told them to 'Take a look around and feel at home!'.
Huntsman has also made a point of bicycling around the neighborhood where he lives. He queues with his wife for a table at a local hot-pot restaurant, and one of his favorite lunchtime haunts is a simple street food stall serving spicy Sichuan food close to the embassy that's a bit too basic even for his staff.
This week, he invited local reporters to the embassy and began by telling them how his adopted Chinese daughter--one of his seven children--was born in the Year of the Rabbit, about to come around again, and was designing the Lunar New Year card that he was preparing to send.
Touches like these undoubtedly generate goodwill--and positive write-ups in state media.
But Huntsman's political prospects have done as much, if not more, to enhance his influence and access among senior Chinese officials, who follow American politics increasingly closely. His understanding of U.S. and Chinese politics also puts him in the unusual position of being able to explain the importance of improving China's image with the American public.
'It's awfully hard for American families who are trying pay the bills and make some sense of the complicated world we live in to kind of take China and recognize it for what it is and put it in rational terms, particularly after reading [about] the latest flight of the stealth J-20 on the Drudge Report,' he said.
The idea that he could, in theory, one day lead the U.S. may also explain why he gets away with some of his less conventional exploits, according to fellow Western diplomats.
When Chinese authorities abruptly canceled a trip they had organized for him to the mostly Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang in July, Huntsman went on his own anyway as a private citizen.
'Trade is all good: 400 billion bucks--that's a big account. But there are some other perhaps more sensitive and subtle issues that I think are a direct extension of who we are as people,' he said.
'If you can't somehow fit that in to what you do, even if you break the rules every now and again, then we're just like any other country.'
Jeremy Page
Flustered guards there, expecting the U.S. representative to sweep up in an armored Cadillac made him park by a side gate and walk in.
The unceremonious arrival--at once suggesting humility and defiance--was typical of Mr. Huntsman, a Mandarin-speaking former Mormon missionary and the son of a billionaire who has set himself the ambitious goal of 'humanizing' the world's most important bilateral relationship.
Since taking over one of America's top ambassadorial posts in 2009, the former Utah governor and possible Republican presidential candidate has made a habit of challenging diplomatic protocol to both charm and unsettle his hosts.
Over the last year, the father of seven children who used to drive a Harley Davidson around Salt Lake City has, in fact, turned up on his bicycle to receive several official reprimands over issues including U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
His unusual approach encapsulates the increasingly symbiotic, yet conflicted relationship between the world's dominant power and its emerging Asian rival, one that will be on display when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Washington this week for the first state visit since 1997.
Huntsman has given key advice to both sides on how to sell the relationship to their respective domestic audiences ahead of the trip and will be on hand for Hu's full itinerary to help choreograph the visit and ensure its success.
'If I were to summarize kind of what everyone's trying to do I think it's to humanize the U.S.-China relationship, to put it in terms that people on both sides really understand,' Huntsman, 50 years old, said in an interview late last week.
'If you can't humanize the relationship, and prove that it's of value to the average citizen, then they're not going to support it, in which case it's of limited value.'
That message rings as true for Beijing as it does for Washington as they try to define their respective roles in the world following a global financial crisis in 2008 that amplified China's emergence as a world power.
The diplomatic certainties that once anchored relations between the two countries have long disappeared. During the Cold War, they found common cause in opposition to the Soviet Union. When China embraced capitalism in the late 1970s, American businesses rushed in to profit from a vast new market for their goods and services. Now, following a series of public disputes last year, China and the U.S. are struggling to define a common agenda that spans the full range of their political, military and economic interests.
'This is a historic visit in the sense that it's the first time ever that both the United States and China have been on the world stage together and they're trying to figure out how to cooperate,' Huntsman said.
'We've met before but never with the glare of the spotlight quite like it is today and the expectations being as high as they are.'
Huntsman was an unconventional choice for the Beijing job: Previous presidents have mostly chosen loyal political supporters with a strong security or business pedigree. Only one was a former elected official, James Sasser, who served in Beijing from 1996 to 1999, and he was at the end of his political career.
When President Barack Obama asked Huntsman to take the post in May 2009, the move was hailed by some Washington pundits as a way to neutralize a potential rival in the 2012 presidential elections.
If that was indeed the idea, its success is not yet guaranteed--Huntsman agreed to do the job only for two years, and hasn't ruled out running in 2012.
He's unusually qualified to represent the U.S. in China following a career that has also included stints as ambassador to Singapore, deputy assistant commerce secretary, deputy trade representative, and an executive in the family plastics business, Huntsman Corp.
Unlike his predecessors, he has a rare combination of political, linguistic and commercial skills. And perhaps more than any other public figure--American or Chinese--his life encompasses the span of modern China-U.S. relations.
In 1971, as an 11-year-old, Huntsman accompanied his father, a plastics tycoon and special assistant to President Richard Nixon, to the White House and met Henry Kissinger just as he was heading to the airport on a secret mission to open diplomatic contacts with China.
Huntsman recalls being allowed to carry Kissinger's briefcase to a waiting car.
After dropping out of high school in the 1970s to play keyboard in a rock band, Huntsman spent two years living as a Mormon missionary and learning Mandarin in Taiwan, the island that Beijing regards as a rebel province. He later resumed his studies and gained a degree in international politics from the University of Pennsylvania.
He first went to Beijing in 1984 when, as a White House aide, he accompanied Ronald Reagan in a meeting with Deng Xiaoping, China's former leader.
As a trade official and as Utah governor, he visited China several times and learned the art of negotiating with Chinese officials. He and his wife also adopted a Chinese girl who was abandoned in a vegetable market in the eastern city of Yangzhou.
In the meantime, Huntsman Corp. has become a major investor in China, with at least five manufacturing facilities.
Since taking over as ambassador, he has had to draw on all that experience to keep relations on track during one of the most testing periods of their evolution.
Soon after he arrived, he invited about 70 Chinese and foreign reporters to his residence, greeted them in fluent Mandarin, and told them to 'Take a look around and feel at home!'.
Huntsman has also made a point of bicycling around the neighborhood where he lives. He queues with his wife for a table at a local hot-pot restaurant, and one of his favorite lunchtime haunts is a simple street food stall serving spicy Sichuan food close to the embassy that's a bit too basic even for his staff.
This week, he invited local reporters to the embassy and began by telling them how his adopted Chinese daughter--one of his seven children--was born in the Year of the Rabbit, about to come around again, and was designing the Lunar New Year card that he was preparing to send.
Touches like these undoubtedly generate goodwill--and positive write-ups in state media.
But Huntsman's political prospects have done as much, if not more, to enhance his influence and access among senior Chinese officials, who follow American politics increasingly closely. His understanding of U.S. and Chinese politics also puts him in the unusual position of being able to explain the importance of improving China's image with the American public.
'It's awfully hard for American families who are trying pay the bills and make some sense of the complicated world we live in to kind of take China and recognize it for what it is and put it in rational terms, particularly after reading [about] the latest flight of the stealth J-20 on the Drudge Report,' he said.
The idea that he could, in theory, one day lead the U.S. may also explain why he gets away with some of his less conventional exploits, according to fellow Western diplomats.
When Chinese authorities abruptly canceled a trip they had organized for him to the mostly Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang in July, Huntsman went on his own anyway as a private citizen.
'Trade is all good: 400 billion bucks--that's a big account. But there are some other perhaps more sensitive and subtle issues that I think are a direct extension of who we are as people,' he said.
'If you can't somehow fit that in to what you do, even if you break the rules every now and again, then we're just like any other country.'
Jeremy Page
没有评论:
发表评论