British Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China | |
---|---|
Style | Her Excellency |
Reports to | Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs |
Residence | Chaoyang District, Beijing |
Inaugural holder | Frederick Wright-Bruce First Ambassador to Imperial China Sir John Jordan Contents
First Ambassador to the People's Republic of China |
Formation | 1840 Ambassador to Imperial China 1910 Ambassador to the People's Republic of China |
Website | British Embassy - Beijing |
The British ambassador to China is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in the People's Republic of China, and in charge of the UK's diplomatic mission in China. The ambassador's official title is His Brittanic Majesty's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China. [1]
The UK recognized the People's Republic of China in 1950, although the PRC did not agree to the exchange of ambassadors until 1972. Prior to this, the United Kingdom had sent ministers to the Qing Empire and variously ministers and ambassadors to the Republic of China. The Embassy offices have been located in Peking (Beijing), Nanking (Nanjing), or both. Currently the British Ambassador to China is Caroline Wilson, she became ambassador in September 2020.
1792–1794: George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney 1815-1817: William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst
Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese Emperor |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sir George Elliot | February 1840 | November 1840 | Queen Victoria | Daoguang Emperor |
Sir Charles Elliot | November 1840 | 12 August 1841 |
Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese Emperor |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sir Henry Pottinger | 12 August 1841 | 8 May 1844 | Queen Victoria | Daoguang Emperor |
Sir John Francis Davis | 8 May 1844 | 18 March 1848 | ||
Sir George Bonham | 18 March 1848 | 1853 | ||
Sir John Bowring | 20 December 1853 | 17 April 1857 | Xianfeng Emperor |
Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese Emperor |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Earl of Elgin | 1857 | 1860 | Queen Victoria | Xianfeng Emperor |
Sir Frederick Bruce | 7 November 1860 | 19 June 1864 | ||
Sir Thomas Francis Wade | 19 June 1864 | 7 December 1865 | Tongzhi Emperor | |
Sir Rutherford Alcock | 7 December 1865 | 1 November 1869 | ||
Hugh Fraser | 1 November 1869 | 28 November 1869 | ||
Sir Thomas Francis Wade | 28 November 1869 | 6 November 1876 | ||
Hugh Fraser | 6 November 1876 | 29 June 1879 | Guangxu Emperor | |
Sir Thomas Francis Wade | 29 June 1879 | 14 August 1882 | ||
Thomas Grosvenor | 14 August 1882 | 17 September 1883 | ||
Sir Harry Smith Parkes died in office | 28 September 1883 | 21 March 1885 | ||
Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor (chargé d'affaires) | 22 March 1885 | 15 June 1886 | ||
Sir John Walsham, Bt | 15 June 1886 | 28 September 1892 | ||
William Nelthorpe Beauclerk chargé d'affaires | 28 September 1892 | 19 November 1892 | ||
Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor | 19 November 1892 | September 1895 | ||
William Nelthorpe Beauclerk chargé d'affaires | September 1895 | 24 April 1896 | ||
Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald [2] | 24 April 1896 | 25 October 1900 | ||
Sir Ernest Mason Satow | 25 October 1900 | 1906 | Edward VII | |
Walter Beaupré Townley chargé d'affaires | 3 December 1902 | 21 August 1903 | ||
Sir John Jordan | 19 September 1906 | 12 March 1910 | ||
William Grenfell Max-Muller | 12 March 1910 | 28 November 1910 | Xuantong Emperor |
Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese President |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sir John Jordan | 28 November 1910 | 1 March 1920 | George V | Sun Yat-sen→Yuan Shikai→Li Yuanhong→Feng Guozhang→Xu Shichang |
Sir Beilby Alston | 1 March 1920 | 1922 | Xu Shichang→Zhou Ziqi→Li Yuanhong | |
Robert Clive chargé d'affaires | 1922 | 1922 | ||
Sir James Ronald Macleay | 1922 | 20 December 1926 | Li Yuanhong→Gao Lingwei→Cao Kun→Huang Fu→Duan Qirui→Hu Weide→Yan Huiqing→Du Xigui→Wellington Koo | |
Sir Miles Lampson | 20 December 1926 | 3 September 1933 | Wellington Koo→Zhang Zuolin→Chiang Kai-shek→Lin Sen | |
Edward Ingram | 5 May 1932 | 3 September 1933 | Lin Sen | |
Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan | 3 September 1933 | 19 May 1935 |
Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Chinese President |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan | 15 June 1935 | 5 April 1936 | George V | Lin Sen |
Sir Robert George Howe | 5 April 1936 | 2 September 1936 | Edward VIII | |
Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen [3] | 23 September 1936 | 20 December 1937 | ||
Sir Archibald Clark Kerr | 23 September 1936 | 16 January 1942 | George VI | |
Sir Horace James Seymour | 16 January 1942 | 23 May 1946 | ||
Ralph Stevenson [4] | 21 June 1946 | 1948 | Chiang Kai-shek |
The United Kingdom recognized Communist China in January 1950 and posted a chargé d'affaires in the new capital of Beijing. However, China was unwilling to exchange ambassadors until the British consulate in Taipei was withdrawn in 1972. [5]
Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British monarch | Chinese leader |
---|---|---|---|---|
John Hutchison [4] | 12 October 1949 | 1951 | George VI | Mao Zedong |
Leo Lamb [4] [6] | 13 February 1951 | 1953 | ||
Humphrey Trevelyan [4] | 22 August 1953 | 1955 | Elizabeth II | |
Con O'Neill [4] | 26 June 1955 | 1957 | ||
Duncan Wilson | 1957 | 1959 | ||
Michael Stewart | 28 August 1959 | 1962 | ||
Terence Garvey | 1962 | 1965 | ||
Donald Hopson | 1965 | 1968 | ||
Percy Cradock | August 1968 | February 1969 | ||
John Denson | 1969 | 18 November 1971 |
Name | Tenure begin | Tenure end | British Monarch | Paramount leader |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sir John Addis | 26 January 1972 | 17 June 1974 | Elizabeth II | Mao Zedong |
Sir Edward Youde | 29 August 1974 | 1978 | ||
Sir Percy Cradock | 15 June 1978 | 1984 | Hua Guofeng | |
Sir Richard Evans | 23 January 1984 | 1988 | Deng Xiaoping | |
Sir Alan Donald | 26 May 1988 | 1991 | ||
Sir Robin McLaren | 20 June 1991 | 1994 | ||
Sir Leonard Appleyard | 24 September 1994 | 1997 | Jiang Zemin | |
Sir Anthony Galsworthy | 29 December 1997 | 2002 | ||
Sir Christopher Hum | 4 April 2002 | 2006 | ||
Sir William Ehrman | 15 March 2006 | 2010 | Hu Jintao | |
Sir Sebastian Wood | 3 March 2010 | 2015 | ||
Dame Barbara Woodward | 14 April 2015 | 2020 | Xi Jinping | |
Dame Caroline Wilson | September 2020 |
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), also known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Taipei Representative Office (TRO) or Taipei Mission, is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a de facto embassy or a consulate of the Republic of China to exercise the foreign affairs and consular services in specific countries which have established formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. The PRC denies the legitimacy of the ROC as a sovereign state and claims the ROC-controlled territories as an integral part of its territory. An exclusive mandate, namely One-China policy, requires that any country wishing to establish a diplomatic relationship with the PRC must first sever any formal relationship with the ROC. According to The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, "non-recognition of the Taiwanese government is a prerequisite for conducting formal diplomatic relations with the PRC—in effect forcing other governments to choose between Beijing and Taipei." As a result, these countries only allow the ROC to establish representative offices instead of a fully-fledged embassy or consulate for the purpose of conducting practical bilateral relations without granting full diplomatic recognition.
A chargé d'affaires, plural chargés d'affaires, often shortened to chargé (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to charge-D, is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is French for "person charged with business", meaning they are responsible for the duties of an ambassador. Chargé is masculine in gender; the feminine form is chargée d'affaires.
Chinese–United Kingdom relations, more commonly known as British–Chinese relations, Anglo-Chinese relations and Sino-British relations, are the interstate relations between China and the United Kingdom.
The Macartney Embassy, also called the Macartney Mission, was the first British diplomatic mission to China, which took place in 1793. It is named for its leader, George Macartney, Great Britain's first envoy to China. The goals of the mission included the opening of new ports for British trade in China, the establishment of a permanent embassy in Beijing, the cession of a small island for British use along China's coast, and the relaxation of trade restrictions on British merchants in Guangzhou (Canton). Macartney's delegation met with the Qianlong Emperor, who rejected all of the mission's requests. Although the mission failed to achieve its official objectives, it was later noted for the extensive cultural, political, and geographical observations its participants recorded in China and brought back to Europe. It came to light in 1796 that a Chinese court official, Heshen, was embezzling state funds and frustrated the mission.
The British Consulate General Hong Kong (BCGHK), located at 1 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong Island, is one of the largest British consulates general in the world and is bigger than many British embassies and high commissions. It is responsible for maintaining British ties with Hong Kong and Macau.
Numerous states have ceased their diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China during the last 70 years, since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Under the One China policy, the ROC is recognized by 11 UN member states and Holy See with 59 UN member states and Somaliland maintaining unofficial cultural and economic relations.
The British Embassy Pyongyang is the British sovereign's diplomatic mission in Pyongyang, North Korea, that represents the United Kingdom's interests. It is located in the Munsu-dong diplomatic compound, where most of the diplomatic missions to North Korea are located, with the exception of the Russian and Chinese missions.
The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Beijing is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in the People's Republic of China. It is one of Britain's largest overseas embassies. It is located at 11 Guanghua Road, in the Chaoyang District. The current British Ambassador to China is Caroline Wilson.
The Embassy of Mexico in China, based out of Beijing, is the primary diplomatic mission from the United Mexican States to the People's Republic of China.