Written by 丨Yue Feifei Editor | Zou Chunxia
When the speech opened with "Hello Everyone", Zhao Xiaolan, unlike most American politicians, would have a gesture of folding her hands together slightly.
Yes, it has to do with the fact that she is of Chinese descent.
On November 29, local time, an official in the team of US President-elect Trump said that Trump nominated Former Labor Minister and Chinese woman Zhao Xiaolan as minister of transportation.
The Chinese girl, who did not speak English at first, was not only a former U.S. secretary of labor, but also the first Chinese in U.S. history to enter the cabinet.
△ Zhao Xiaolan
Minister Zhao Xiaolan returned
Last time she took office, Ms. Zhao was in charge of an annual budget of $40 billion, leading more than 17,000 employees, and this time, Mr. Trump intends to hand over trillions of dollars to her.
During the presidency of Reagan in 1986, Zhao Xiaolan entered the U.S. federal government as deputy director of the Federal Shipping Administration, and was promoted to chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission in 1988, already the highest-ranking Asian-American in the federal government. In 1989, she was appointed deputy secretary of transportation by President Bush Sr.
△ When Zhao Xiaolan was just inaugurated as vice minister of the Ministry of Communications
From deputy director of the Shipping Department to chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission to the deputy minister of federal transport, Zhao Xiaolan's professional "triple jump" took only 4 years.
Political circles (WeChat ID: wepolitics) noted that some media comments said that this provides a strong counterexample for those Chinese who believe that there is a "glass ceiling" for integrating into mainstream American society.
Zhao Xiaolan once said that she is a person who is ready to meet opportunities at any time.
In 1992, when the president of the United Charitable Foundation, the largest charitable organization in the United States, broke out the scandal of the president embezzling money and going to jail, the board unanimously took zhao Xiaolan and asked her to take over, "saving the Titanic that had hit the iceberg." When Zhao Xiaolan left office, the board of directors in recognition of her contribution, everyone paid out of their own pockets, sent her a 300,000 U.S. dollar red envelope, Zhao Xiaolan declined, but she is not without gains, the experience in the charity foundation, so that Zhao Xiaolan and many labor organizations in the United States to form a good relationship, which undoubtedly laid the foundation for her later as minister of labor.
In 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush appointed Mr. Cho as Secretary of Labor. She was the first Chinese in U.S. history to enter the Cabinet, and the first Asian-American woman in the Cabinet, serving as Secretary of Labor from 2001 until 2009, the longest U.S. secretary since World War II and the only cabinet member in the George W. Bush administration to serve for eight years.
△ Zhao Xiaolan (right) and Bush Jr
I used to dream of "having a suite"
Zhao Xiaolan entered the eunuch path for many years, but the virtues he had cultivated since childhood had not changed in the slightest.
No matter how busy she is at work and no matter where she is, she must call home every week to report that she is safe. Even when he became the vice minister of transportation, when he went home to eat, he often competed to pour tea for the elders. Every New Year's Holiday or her parents' birthday, Xiaolan always flies back to her parents to share the joy of the world with her family.
What the political circle (WeChat ID: wepolitics) wants to say is that Zhao Xiaolan's "invincible" is closely related to her growth experience and dual cultural background.
△ Zhao Xiaolan's family (parents and six children)
Born in Taiwan, 63, Mr. Zhao, a native of Shanghai, moved to the United States with her parents in 1961 and studied at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
When she came to the United States at the age of 8, she did not speak a word of English, saying that her goal after graduation was to find a job and own a house in the future.
Explaining her success in a speech, she said there was a Chinese-style reason beyond "having a big goal to serve the public," saying she wanted her parents to have a good life because, like Chinese parents, they sacrificed too much for their children.
According to reports, Zhao Xiaolan has always attributed her ability to have today to the unremitting cultivation of her parents, especially her father, a generation of ship kings and famous philanthropists - Dr. Zhao Xicheng.
Just after graduating from college, she went to her father's shipping company for internship, and her father especially did some difficult work for her, and she always tried every means to finish and do a good job.
"Walking the Back Door" for Chinese Visitors
Zhao Xiaolan has good interpersonal relations with the top echelons of US politics and good relations with Chinese leaders. When she married Mitch McConnell, the guests were said to have included the Chinese ambassador to the United States.
During their visits to the United States, Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji, then premier of the State Council, met with Zhao Xiaolan and her husband and son-in-law in the midst of their busy schedules. According to reports, Zhao Xiaolan's father, Zhao Xicheng, had the same friendship with former state president Jiang Zemin.
△ Zhao Xiaolan and Zhao Xicheng
When talking about Zhao Xiaolan's special relationship with Li Lanqing, then vice premier of the State Council, his father, Mr. Zhao Xicheng, also told a small story: In 1984, when Li Lanqing was the vice mayor of Tianjin, he visited the United States and lined up to visit the White House.
Zhao Xiaolan learned that guests from China were queuing up, and immediately tried to find a way to let them "go through the back door" to visit inside. This incident left a deep impression on Li Lanqing, until during Zhao Xiaolan's visit to China, Li Lanqing also talked about this small matter.
Jiang Zemin, Wu Yi, and Wen Jiabao all met Zhao Xiaolan's father, Zhao Xicheng, several times, and Wen Jiabao gave him a calligraphy: "The house of Ji Shan will have Yu Qing." ”
Her husband was the most influential member of the Senate
Zhao Xiaolan's husband is Mitch McConnell (born in February 1942), and the Chinese people may not be indifferent to the name, but for Americans, they will not be indifferent to the name.
△ Zhao Xiaolan and her husband McConnell
In the eyes of the political circle (WeChat ID: wepolitics), he can be said to be the leader of the "leaders" of american politics. The leading figure in the US political arena, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who has just been re-elected as the leader of the Senate Majority Party, has served five presidents and is the most influential Republican member in the Senate.
McConnell married Zhao Xiaolan in 1993 after having three daughters with his ex-wife. After marrying McConnell, Zhao resigned as president of the United Foundation in 1996 to fully assist her husband in running for the Senate. The two often appeared at both the stage of publicity and voting.
Why can she "go out of the mountain" for the second time?
Zhao Xiaolan's story is over, and now, the political knowledge circle (WeChat ID: wepolitics) wants to talk about why Trump will nominate Zhao Xiaolan and let her "go out of the mountain" again. Trump's cabinet is so lively, how to see the doorway in the end. In order to be able to explain clearly, Zheng Zhijun consulted Zhang Xudong, an expert on American issues at Tsinghua University.
Important cabinet-level positions in the United States are roughly divided into three parts, one is the White House position, one is the position of various cabinet departments, and some are presidentially appointed but neutral positions, such as the Federal Reserve.
First, without congressional approval, the president appoints directly, such as the White House chief of staff, national security adviser, etc.;
Second, if you need to approve it in the Senate, you will face congressional checks and balances, so you can't choose as you want;
Third, they also need to be approved by Congress, but their work generally changes less with the government, but only fills in the gaps, less affected by partisan politics, and less affected by party color in appointment.
Zhao Xiaolan's official appointment as Minister of Transport also requires the approval of the National Assembly.
For why Trump wants to nominate Zhao Xiaolan, Zhang Xudong analyzed, first, she has government experience since the Reagan administration, served in the Transportation Department of the old Bush administration, has a relatively rich political experience, in addition to the Secretary of Labor of the George W. Bush administration, she has also served in the Bank of America and Citibank, and after the end of George W. Bush's term, she served in the Conservative Foundation, and also made political remarks on Fox News.
These political, economic, and media resumes make her a convincing qualification for the position, and she herself is the kind of person with leadership temperament and reform boldness, and she is the leader needed for the changes that Trump has introduced.
The second is related to her marriage. His husband is the current Senate Republican leader, McConnell, the man who has the final say in the Senate. From the approval of Zhao Xiaolan's appointment to the $1 trillion infrastructure renovation project that Trump wants to promote, it needs the support of Congress, and Zhao Xiaolan's identity and relationship with Congress will help Trump's White House coordinate with the traditional Republican establishment-controlled Congress to promote the upgrading of US infrastructure.
In this regard, Democratic congressmen also said that if the Republican Party does not go to extremes on issues such as health care and education, then the Democratic Party is also willing to take a cooperative posture on infrastructure issues.
At present, Zhao Xiaolan is a bridge that can link the White House with both houses of Congress and even the Democratic Republic. She is both a representative of the George W. Bush administration, a symbol of the traditional Republican elite, and a representative of Trump, symbolizing the new reform force, and being seen by the Democratic Party as an object of cooperation, which is equivalent to meeting the expectations of many parties, coupled with McConnell's wife status, it is likely to be approved by the Senate appointment before Trump takes office.
Information丨 Xinhua News Agency, People's Network, Zhejiang Daily, Phoenix Network, Southern People Weekly, etc
Proofreading | Wang Kun