Former Republican Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman spoke to students and faculty Monday about current policy failures in the United States’ relationship with China in a forum moderated by Batten School Dean Harry Harding at the University Chapel.
After commenting on the state of domestic politics and his own career path, Huntsman, who served as governor of Utah and then ambassador to China before running for president in 2012, spent the majority of his speech emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-China relationship.
“[The United States] need[s] to be seen as an honest broker,” Huntsman said. “[There is] an indispensable role for the United States whether we like it or not.”
Fourth-year College student Jooyeon Huh, president of the Virginia East Asia Society, which hosted the event, said the relationship is a two-way street, however.
“We hope to hear what the leadership of China wants in their partnership with the United States,” Huh said. “All we know is what [the] American government is headed toward.”
The United States already has tens of thousands of citizens in China, Huntsman said, and he advocated for the extension of work visas to Chinese people in the United States. The former governor also encouraged the Republican Party to take a different track on the current immigration debate.
“The Republicans would do themselves a great favor if they made the immigration debate [more about] economics and less [about] security,” he said. “[This] begins to reorient thinking more toward ‘let’s build and let’s prepare for the next generation’ as opposed to ‘let’s look after the United States.‘”
Noting the recent and rapid spread of web use and growth in the nation’s economy, Huntsman said the most significant change coming to China in the next 10-20 years is the expansion of civil society. He said it is vital for the United States to play a role in that development.
“For your generation, there will be no more important relationship than the U.S.-China relationship,” he said to students, jokingly describing it as a “sweet and sour” relationship. “The interests of the United States and China have converged like never before.”
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