Now I KNOW I am not the only person to have read this and said "WOOOOOWWW, that's unexpected." However, yes Utah Gov. Huntsman is to be named U.S. envoy to China. Talk about Team of Rivals (sorry, I had no choice but to say it).
Now personally I think of this more substantially than I do politically. I have the sort of confidence in the President that thinks whoever the Repub nominee is is going to get Reagan 84'd. Huntsman could still very well run in 2012, this certainly doesn't rule him out of the running, but when was the last time someone IN a President's administration ran against him the following election? Politically though this just adds to the bipartisan bonafides of the President and maybe a day of "Oh he is putting another rival in the Administration how great slob drool*" and all that jazz.
Now to the substance. Huntsman is a FANTASTIC pick for Envoy to China. He speaks Mandarin from his days as a missionary and has held such positions as ambassador to Singapore under President George H.W. Bush and as a deputy U.S. trade representative and U.S. trade ambassador under President George W. Bush. Experience he is not lacking. Most importantly though is his views on the environment. Although per capita China has a smaller footprint then we do there nation has such a large population that if we do not get them aboard the train of true Enviromental initiatives we are taking one step forward for us while the world is pulling us two steps back. On this aspect he will excell. As the article notes, he is known diplomat who helps build consensus from opposing sides (sounds like a certain someone we know hmm)so in this endeavor I think he will aid the President and excell at it while doing so. 你不觉得?