List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China

Last updated

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
British Ambassador
to the People’s Republic of China
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg
S960 Caroline Wilson photo.jpg
Incumbent
Caroline Wilson
since September 2020
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
First Ambassador to the Republic of China

Sir John Hutchinson

Contents


First Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
Formation1840
Ambassador to Imperial China

1910
Ambassador to the Republic of China

1950
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.

List of heads of mission

1792–1794: George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney 1815-1817: William Pitt Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to Imperial China (during the First Opium War)

NameTenure beginTenure end British Monarch Chinese Emperor
Sir George Elliot February 1840November 1840 Queen Victoria Daoguang Emperor
Sir Charles Elliot November 184012 August 1841

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to Imperial China (held by the Governor of Hong Kong)

NameTenure beginTenure end British Monarch Chinese Emperor
Sir Henry Pottinger 12 August 18418 May 1844 Queen Victoria Daoguang Emperor
Sir John Francis Davis 8 May 184418 March 1848
Sir George Bonham 18 March 18481853
Sir John Bowring 20 December 185317 April 1857 Xianfeng Emperor

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to Imperial China

NameTenure beginTenure end British Monarch Chinese Emperor
The Earl of Elgin 18571860 Queen Victoria Xianfeng Emperor
Sir Frederick Bruce 7 November 186019 June 1864
Sir Thomas Francis Wade 19 June 18647 December 1865 Tongzhi Emperor
Sir Rutherford Alcock 7 December 18651 November 1869
Hugh Fraser 1 November 186928 November 1869
Sir Thomas Francis Wade 28 November 18696 November 1876
Hugh Fraser 6 November 187629 June 1879 Guangxu Emperor
Sir Thomas Francis Wade 29 June 187914 August 1882
Thomas Grosvenor 14 August 188217 September 1883
Sir Harry Smith Parkes died in office28 September 188321 March 1885
Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor (chargé d'affaires)22 March 188515 June 1886
Sir John Walsham, Bt 15 June 188628 September 1892
William Nelthorpe Beauclerk chargé d'affaires28 September 189219 November 1892
Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor 19 November 1892September 1895
William Nelthorpe Beauclerk chargé d'affairesSeptember 189524 April 1896
Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald [2] 24 April 189625 October 1900
Sir Ernest Mason Satow 25 October 19001906 Edward VII
Walter Beaupré Townley chargé d'affaires3 December 190221 August 1903
Sir John Jordan 19 September 190612 March 1910
William Grenfell Max-Muller 12 March 191028 November 1910 Xuantong Emperor

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Republic of China

NameTenure beginTenure end British Monarch Chinese President
Sir John Jordan 28 November 19101 March 1920 George V Sun Yat-senYuan ShikaiLi YuanhongFeng GuozhangXu Shichang
Sir Beilby Alston 1 March 19201922 Xu ShichangZhou ZiqiLi Yuanhong
Robert Clive chargé d'affaires19221922
Sir James Ronald Macleay 192220 December 1926 Li YuanhongGao LingweiCao KunHuang FuDuan QiruiHu WeideYan HuiqingDu XiguiWellington Koo
Sir Miles Lampson 20 December 19263 September 1933 Wellington KooZhang ZuolinChiang Kai-shekLin Sen
Edward Ingram 5 May 19323 September 1933 Lin Sen
Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan 3 September 193319 May 1935

Ambassadors to the Republic of China

NameTenure beginTenure end British Monarch Chinese President
Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan 15 June 19355 April 1936 George V Lin Sen
Sir Robert George Howe 5 April 19362 September 1936 Edward VIII
Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen [3] 23 September 193620 December 1937
Sir Archibald Clark Kerr 23 September 193616 January 1942 George VI
Sir Horace James Seymour 16 January 194223 May 1946
Ralph Stevenson [4] 21 June 19461948 Chiang Kai-shek

Chargés d'affaires to the People's Republic of China

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]

NameTenure beginTenure end British monarch Chinese leader
John Hutchison [4] 12 October 19491951 George VI Mao Zedong
Leo Lamb [4] [6] 13 February 19511953
Humphrey Trevelyan [4] 22 August 19531955 Elizabeth II
Con O'Neill [4] 26 June 19551957
Duncan Wilson 19571959
Michael Stewart 28 August 19591962
Terence Garvey 19621965
Donald Hopson 19651968
Percy Cradock August 1968February 1969
John Denson 196918 November 1971

Ambassadors to the People's Republic of China

NameTenure beginTenure end British Monarch Paramount leader
Sir John Addis 26 January 197217 June 1974 Elizabeth II Mao Zedong
Sir Edward Youde 29 August 19741978
Sir Percy Cradock 15 June 19781984 Hua Guofeng
Sir Richard Evans 23 January 19841988 Deng Xiaoping
Sir Alan Donald 26 May 19881991
Sir Robin McLaren 20 June 19911994
Sir Leonard Appleyard 24 September 19941997 Jiang Zemin
Sir Anthony Galsworthy 29 December 19972002
Sir Christopher Hum 4 April 20022006
Sir William Ehrman 15 March 20062010 Hu Jintao
Sir Sebastian Wood 3 March 20102015
Dame Barbara Woodward 14 April 20152020 Xi Jinping
Dame Caroline Wilson September 2020

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macartney Embassy</span> First British diplomatic mission to China (1793)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of diplomatic relations of the Republic of China</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of the United Kingdom, Pyongyang</span> Embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of the United Kingdom, Beijing</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embassy of Mexico, Beijing</span>

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.

References

  1. "Caroline Wilson appointed as Her Majesty's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China".
  2. E. W. Edwards, 'MacDonald, Sir Claude Maxwell (1852–1915)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 , accessed 5 November 2008
  3. "No. 34331". The London Gazette . 13 October 1936. p. 6536.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 The Diplomatic Service List 1966, p. 120.
  5. "China Exchange of Ambassadors". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 13 March 1972.
  6. Hoare, J.E., Embassies in the East, 1999, 2013 Routledge. "Chapter 5: Last years in the old Legation."