US envoy to China quits

US: US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman resigned Monday, amid reports that he may seek the Republican nomination in 2012 and try to deprive his boss, President Barack Obama, of a second term.

Huntsman, a smooth former Utah governor, wrote to Obama to announce he would resign effective from April 30, after the White House noted he had told several officials he planned to leave in the first part of this year.

But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs sidestepped questions about Huntsman's political intentions, as anticipation builds for Obama's reelection bid and several prominent Republicans take soundings over their chances.

"I have talked to several people in the building, I have not heard anybody say that they know what the future holds for Ambassador Huntsman," Gibbs said.

Obama's 2009 pick of Huntsman to serve in the crucial Beijing post was seen as a political masterstroke, potentially taking one possible rival out of the game in the upcoming Presidential election.

But Huntsman stirred 2012 buzz with a Newsweek interview late last year in which he suggested he had one political run left in him, and after buying a new home in Washington.

Huntsman, the son of a chemical billionaire, could inject his own cash into an effort to explore his prospects in the crowded field of presumed Republican contenders for the Presidential nomination.

Washington, Tuesday, AFP