Gary Locke: Chinese American

Time was the morning of October 30， 2009. The venue was the rooftop garden at Sofitel Westlake Hotel in Hangzhou. With the picturesque West Lake as a charming background， the visiting American Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke met with two businessmen in Zhejiang. Both businessmen had American background. Yang Liyou， CEO of Chint Solar Energy， is a leading scientist in solar energy applications. Zhu Min， with his huge success in American Silicon Valley， is now director of Cybernaut， a high-profile venture capital organization in China. They sipped tea and enjoyed the lake vista from afar.

Gary Locke had stayed two days in Hangzhou， capital city of eastern China’s coastal Zhejiang Province. Locke was in Hangzhou for the 20th Session of China-US Joint Committee meeting from October 28 to 29， 2009， half a month before U.S. President Obama was scheduled to visit China for the first time. US Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and China’s Vice Premier Wang Qishan discussed trade issues at the summit to ensure that there would be substantial progress in trade when President Obama was in China.

One Mile Covered in 100 Years

Gary Locke was born in America. His grandfather moved from Taishan， Guangdong Province of China to America and worked as a servant to a rich family in Seattle， America. Where the grandpa worked is less than one mile from the official governor residence of Washington State. On January 15， 1997， Gary Locke stepped into the residence as the first ever Chinese American to serve as governor of a state in the United States history. He has commented on various occasions that it takes his family one hundred years to cover the one mile distance. He observes， “This journey is possible only in America. Our values—education， hard work， a sense of responsibility， and family， guide me forward every day.”

Gary Locke’s father James Locke was born in Taishan and his mother is from Hong Kong. James came to Washington with his parents when he was 13. He served in the army and ran a restaurant and a drugstore after his retirement from the army. It was not until half a century and the third generation that the family began to merge into the mainstream life of America.

Gary Locke was born in 1950， the second of the five children. He did not learn to speak English until he was five. Before that， he spoke Taishan dialect. While growing up， the junior was deeply influenced by his father’s enterprising spirit. The way he received education and his academic honors proved that Chinese Americans can get equal opportunities in America. In 1975， he earned a law degree from the Boston University School of Law.

American Dream

Like most Chinese American parents， James Locke was traditional enough: no engagement in politics was a deep-seated concept in his life. And he hoped his son Gary would become a businessman， a doctor or an engineer. But the son chose a politics as his career， something rarely touched by Chinese Americans. His political career was smooth. He was elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 1982. In 1993， he was elected to the executive of King County， paving the way for his next step toward the governorship of Washington State. In 1996， he made history by becoming the first Chinese American state governor in the history of United States.

Gary Locke’s successful election was great news to the Chinese community in the United States. The American national media covered his political career， focusing upon his American dream. Then President Clinton made a special mention of Gary Locke in his State of the Union address.

Locke worked hard. And he was reelected smoothly in November， 2000. During his tenure as the governor， Locke promoted the trade between America and China. In October， 1997， he led a delegation of 22 officials of Washington State to visit China. They visited Beijing， Chengdu， Shanghai and Hong Kong， met with Chinese leaders and held discussions about trade， agriculture and education. It was during his tenure as the governor that Washington State became the third largest trade partner with China in the United States.

Marriage and Family

Gary Locke’s first marriage was brief. After staying as a single for more than ten years， he fell in love with Mona Lee， a journalist with a television studio in Seattle. Locke’s proposal was turned down twice before he thought of using a helicopter to make the third proposal. He hired a helicopter and flew to Mona Lee’s house. A long streamer bearing the words “Mona Lee， I Love You” was hanging from the helicopter. Mona Lee was touched and accepted the proposal. She became a housewife after they got married on October 15， 1994. Today， the Lockes have three children.

Some people say Gary Locke is a workaholic， but he always puts his family first. While working as governor， he managed to have dinner with his family several evenings per week and save weekends for family. Highly efficient， he found time for his hobbies: gardening， decorating houses， repairing cars and taking photos. He found time to prepare breakfast for his children. Under his leadership， unemployment rate dropped to the lowest in the history， people earned more and business profit soared in Washington.

In July， 2003 he announced that he would not seek a third term， saying that with his deep love of the state， he wanted more time with his family.

He became a lawyer in Seattle after he left politics. He was charged with the task of helping US companies seek Chinese business. In 2008 alone， he visited China five times. In May， 2008， Sichuan Province， which has sister relations with Washington State， was hit by earthquakes. Locke visited Dujiangyan， one of the disaster areas. He also took part in the Olympic torch relay in Sichuan.

On February 25， 2009， he was nominated for Secretary of Commerce by President Obama. The nomination was approved.