Commerce Sec nominee tied to Chinese cash

Gary Locke (pictured), the former governor of the state of Washington, is the nominee for Secretary of Commerce.

The position would include approving sensitive exports to China,

Locke has performed legal work for companies doing business with Beijing and was forced to refund several political donations that he received in the 1990s from key figures in a Chinese influence-buying investigation.

Since leaving the governor's mansion in 2005, Mr. Locke has been working with the Seattle law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP as part of its China practice, which has offices in Shanghai.

On its Web page, www.dwt.com, the law firm says it has represented several state-run Chinese companies, including China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and China Shipping as well as the Bank of China, BankOne, Boeing Co., Freightliner, Ford Motor Co., General Electric Capital Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

The Obama administration, however, claims there is no conflict of interest.

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