US ambassador to China Huntsman hints at running for President in 2012

Washington, Jan 3 (ANI): Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador to China and a Republican, has hinted that he might contest for the presidential bid in 2012.

"You know, I'm really focused on what we're doing in our current position," he said in response to a question about presidential aspirations. "But we won't do this forever, and I think we may have one final run left in our bones."

On being asked if he was prepared to rule out a run in 2012, he declined to do so, The Telegraph reports.

Huntsman, a former Governor of Utah and a regarded as a rising star on the moderate wing of the Republican party, was sent to Beijing in 2009 in what was regarded as a bipartisan move by Obama but also a way of neutralising a potential rival.

If Huntsman is to run for the President, he would likely resign his post in Beijing within days, the paper said.

According to sources close to Huntsman, the US envoy met with several former political advisers during a December trip to the United States to discuss a potential campaign.

Huntsman was national campaign co-chairman of Obama's rival John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. He is a moderate who favours gay rights and has backed immigration reform and cap-and-trade legislation. (ANI)