Amb Driving School

I think these statements are trying to get at how most (but I am sure not all) of Locke's formative influences came from his having grown up in the United States as a third generation American. Locke attended elementary school, middle school, high school, and college in the United States and rose through the ranks as a "normal" American lawyer-politiciant, starting out as a prosecutor and then eventually becoming a governer.  I think that these statements are also meant to reflect that we cannot simply assume Locke is an expert on China simply because he is ethnic Chinese. Does anyone dispute that if Locke were a Caucasian, nobody would be saying he's not "really German" or "not really French" or whatever?

I mention all of this after reading " Does Gary Locke Speak Chinese " on the Language Log Blog and Adam Minter's Bloomberg story, " New U.S. Ambassador Sparks Emotional Debate in China. " Both articles talk of how Locke is perceived in China and in the United States and of whether he is seen as Chinese or not, particularly when he does not speak Mandarin. Both articles are very thoughtful and well worth a read.

These articles reminded me of a post I did a couple years ago, entitled, " Your Chinese-American VP Don't Know Diddley 'Bout China Law And I Have Friggin Had It ," in which I talk of how American companies just assume their Chinese-American employee is an expert on everything

I have had it with US companies believing their Chinese-American Vice-President (or whatever) is somehow qualified to practice International law. Let me back up.