|
 The choice underscores the importance Washington attaches to
building economic links with China, including resolving many of the
trade issues that have strained ties, Chinese experts on Sino-U.S.
relations said.
Baucus, who announced earlier this year his intention to retire from
the Senate at the end of 2014, currently chairs the powerful Senate
Finance Committee, which oversees tax and trade policy. He was first
elected to the Senate in 1978.
Obama's choice of the 72-year-old Baucus must be confirmed by the
Senate. The chamber is not expected to consider the nomination until
early next year.
"Even though Baucus has frequently given China a hard time, the
government is unlikely to view his previous performances with
colored glasses and tag him as part of the anti-China faction, they
aren't so naive," said Sun Zhe, the director of the Center for
U.S.-China Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
"After all, he was familiar with the Chinese government and with the
way it operates. This will be beneficial to his work on the economy
and trade."
A Democratic official, who asked not to be identified, noted that
Baucus led the successful U.S. effort in the 1990s to admit China
into the World Trade Organization in 2001 and to begin normal
bilateral trade relations with Beijing.
Baucus would succeed Gary Locke, whose 2-1/2 year term was marked by
a dramatic diplomatic row over the fate of blind legal activist,
Chen Guangcheng.
The nomination, which has not yet been announced by the White House,
comes as relations between the United States and China are strained
over territorial disputes in the East China Sea and the South China
Sea.
In July, Baucus and three other influential members of Congress
wrote to Obama to urge him to press China to halt the theft of
intellectual property and to curb practices that discriminate
against U.S. companies.
In June, he was among a group of senators who raised concerns about
a plan by Chinese meat company Shuanghui International to buy U.S.
pork firm Smithfield Foods Inc, citing national security and food
safety interests.
Despite his stance on trade issues, Baucus would help drive the next
phase of economic cooperation between the two nations, said Ruan
Zongze, a former Chinese diplomat in the United States and a senior
research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.
"He has ... had many opportunities to interact with China and likely
understands China quite a bit, so this is not a surprising choice,
neither is it an accidental one," Ruan said.
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MILITARY TENSIONS
Should the Senate confirm Baucus's appointment, one of his tests may
be managing security issues, said Sun.
A U.S. guided missile cruiser, the USS Cowpens, and a Chinese
warship operating near China's only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning,
narrowly avoided collision early this month in the South China Sea.
The near-miss followed China's recent announcement of an air defense
zone covering disputed islands in the East China Sea, further to the
north, which upset Washington as well as its allies Japan and South
Korea.
Another test could be Beijing's complaints about a U.S. strategic
policy shift known as the "pivot" to Asia. China views this as an
attempt to constrain its growing military and political power in the
region.
A senior Senate aide said that under Montana law, Democratic
Governor Steve Bullock will appoint a replacement for Baucus if he
becomes ambassador to China.
Democrats currently hold 53 Senate seats and two independents
regularly vote with them. There are 45 Republicans in the Senate and
if Bullock appoints a Democratic replacement, it would not change
the balance of power in the chamber.
Spokesmen for Bullock, who is expected to appoint a Democrat, were
not available for comment.
Details were also not yet available on whether the replacement would
serve through 2014. Baucus' Senate seat was already up for election
in November 2014.
Whoever is picked by Bullock would have an advantage going into next
year's election, assuming that person wanted to seek a full term in
the Senate. Republicans have set their sights on the Montana seat in
their drive to win majority control of the Senate in the 2014
elections.
(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton in Washington and Sui-Lee
Wee in Beijing.; editing by G Crosse, Leslie Adler, Dan Grebler and
Dean Yates)
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