Governor denounces North Korea test

SHANGHAI — Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. shifted his focus on the final day of his weeklong trade mission to China, telling a university audience that North Korea's nuclear test is a "hostile act" that cannot be tolerated.

"North Korea's recent action makes the world less safe, less stable and not only poses a threat to this region, but to all humankind," Huntsman said Friday, warning that "a positive solution is impossible" if China and the United States don't work together.

The governor, a diplomat before he became a politician, offered his views in a speech at Shanghai Normal University. At the same time, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Beijing discussing sanctions against North Korea with Chinese officials.

Since arriving in China Monday, Huntsman has been meeting with U.S. and Chinese officials in Beijing and Shanghai to promote trade, tourism and educational exchanges between Utah and China. Friday was his first opportunity to discuss in detail U.S.-China relations.

Governors, of course, don't have a foreign policy role. Huntsman reminded the university audience of that when a student asked a question about another foreign policy issue. The governor drew laughs when he said his response was simply, "in my opinion. I'm only a governor."

More than 100 people at this onetime teachers' college gathered to hear Utah's chief executive, including a group of Westminster College graduate students in China as part of a course in business cultures.

"I thought it was good," Salt Lake resident Dan Benefield, 41, said of Huntsman's speech. "What we've seen traveling around China is that a lot of the younger generation is very concerned about international issues" and their country's relationship with the United States.

Zisheng Xue, 22, a tourism major at Shanghai Normal University, said he appreciated the Utah governor's "colorful communication."

Huntsman also talked about his past experiences with China, including a trip made to Shanghai in 1984 as a White House staff assistant to former President Ronald Reagan.

Then, the governor said, Reagan told students at another Shanghai-area university that "the United States and China share a special responsibility to help reduce the risks of war," including someday banishing nuclear weapons. "I agreed then, and I agree now," Huntsman said, calling Reagan as being "almost prophetic."