Above: Jon Huntsman discuss U.S. engagement in Asia and the 2012 presidential campaign in front of a full auditorium at GWU’s Elliot School of International Affairs.

(Washington, D.C.) – Former Utah Governor, Republican presidential candidate and U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman advocated people-to-people diplomacy for an enhanced engagement with China and other countries in Asia during an appearance in Washington on September 17.

“Our future is Asia … and it’s a people-to-people game,” said Huntsman, age 52, appearing at a well-attended discussion at George Washington University. Describing the connection between the two countries as “a marriage with divorce on the line” that requires work, he added, “We need to humanize the U.S.-China relationship.”

An important part of such repair work, Huntsman told GWU students, is to actively engage with their Chinese counterparts to foster cooperation with “an agenda of shared interests,” as he described it. He specifically indicated that language and cultural exchanges were the “glue and ties that ensure the relationships are long lasting.”

Huntsman’s cooperative take on U.S-China relations contrasts sharply with Mitt Romney, the man who won the Republican presidential nomination he sought during this past year’s primary elections. Romney supports trade sanctions against China and has made his claim that China is “cheating” on international trade issues a focus of his campaign and television advertising.

Alluding to his apparent disagreement with the nominee of his party without directly criticizing Romney, Huntsman encouraged the younger generation to leverage the American values that “shine thousands of miles away from home” to help U.S. leadership grow in Asia. “We have to utilize our leverage and influence to engage Asia and step up to the game,” he said.

Asked about Southeast Asia, Huntsman indicated that this region is growing into a solid, stable and secured group of states with diversity and influence at the crossroads of the continent. He observed that the United States should be playing a helpful role in resolving their outstanding regional issues, including sovereignty disputes with China and the balance of power among the leading nations.

Throughout the evening session, Huntsman switched freely between English, Mandarin Chinese and some Cantonese in offering his reflections on Asia and what he learned during the presidential campaign. As the ambassador to China from 2009 to 2011, he initiated the “100,000 Strong” initiative aimed to increase and diversify American students studying in China, according to moderator Dr. David Shambaugh, professor and director of the China Policy Program of GWU’s Elliot School of International Affairs.

At the height of China’s pro-democracy “Jasmine Revolution” in February, 2011, Huntsman controversially appeared at the site of a protest in Beijing. Despite international disputes with China over issues like human rights, he encourages young generations to foster closer economic, cultural and people-to-people ties with China. “It is a human-to-human, heart-to-heart and hand-to-hand relationship,” Huntsman commented at the end of the discussion.

Mary Kaye Huntsman, the ambassador’s wife, later told Asian Fortune that the Asian American communities at home played a very important role in promoting U.S.-Asia ties during their years in Beijing. The Huntsman family has done its part in promoting those ties, as two of their seven children were adopted from China and India.

The event at which the Huntsmans appeared was sponsored by the Asia Society.