In fact, despite the restrictions on the US government budget, wastes of public fund in the US have been exposed from time to time. And in China, there are many frugal officials who deserve more media attention than Locke. But bad news about some officials' luxurious lifestyle always sells better than good stories such as that a deputy mayor of Wuhu, Anhui province sent her daughter to school by bike everyday.

Locke's low-key lifestyle shouldn't have drawn much attention. But the "pivot to Asia" policy of the US, which many Chinese believe is aimed at containing China's rise, led to a war of words with Locke and his embassy.

When the US embassy in China started releasing its own data on PM2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometer or less suspended in the air and harmful to human health), China's environmental authorities in June 2012 termed the practice an interference in the country's domestic politics.

The debate over PM2.5 reflected the gap in the perception of environmental protection between the US-led developed countries and China-led developing countries. It is and will be unrealistic to expect the largest developing country to meet the developed countries' environmental standards after only three decades of reform and opening-up.

There is little doubt that Chinese people, too, yearn for better air quality and the Chinese government is determined to change its economic development model to protect the environment. The Chinese authorities included PM2.5 in the air quality index in 26 cities from 2012, and extended the practice to 74 cities in 2013. There is no denying, though, that the US embassy played a catalyst's role in China including PM2.5 to monitor air quality.

That the US allowed some Chinese to seek asylum in its embassy and consulate made China-US relations more complicated. It not only intensified tensions between the two countries over human rights, but also, in effect, provided further evidence to people who believe that the US is eager to contain China by tarnishing its image and interfering in its internal affairs.

The US global surveillance scandal has put US embassies, including the one in China, in an awkward position. It has exposed the hypocrisy of the US - while the US claims to promote "freedom" and "democracy" in other countries, it keeps the whole world under its scrutiny. The German media reported the US surveillance program, through its embassy and consulates, has targeted many Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu in Sichuan province.

While the Chinese media have ridiculed the US for its hypocrisy, the Chinese people have refrained from publicly protesting against the US as Indonesians did against US ally Australia for spying on Indonesian leaders. This could be a sign that China doesn't want the US surveillance program, damaging as it is, to hurt overall China-US relations because of the bilateral ties' importance for both countries as well as the rest of the world.

A new style power relationship between China and the US cannot be built in a day. As important as an ambassador is, he is still just a piece on the chessboard in the making of a new power relationship between China and the US. So no matter who replaces Locke as the next US ambassador to China, such frictions will continue, although overall China-US relationship will remain steady.

The author is an editor with China Daily.

(China Daily 11/27/2013 page9)