List of ambassadors of the United States to China

(Redirected from U.S. Ambassador to China) Diplomats leading the American mission to the People's Republic of China

Ambassador of the United States to the People's Republic of China 美利坚合众国驻华大使
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent R. Nicholas Burns since April 1, 2022
Residence	Beijing
Nominator	The President of the United States
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Formation	February 27, 1979
First holder	Leonard Woodcock
Website	china.usembassy-china.org.cn

The United States ambassador to China is the chief United States diplomat to the People's Republic of China. The United States has sent diplomatic representatives to China since 1844, when Caleb Cushing, as commissioner, negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia. Commissioners represented the United States in China from 1844 to 1857. Until 1898, China did not have a system in place for the Emperor to accept the Letters of Credence of foreign representatives. From 1858 to 1935, the United States representative in China was formally Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China. The American legation in Nanjing was upgraded to an embassy in 1935 and the Envoy was promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

During the republican era, the United States recognized the Beiyang Government in Beijing from 1912 to 1928 and the Nationalist Government in Nanjing (and Chongqing from 1937 to 1945) from 1928 onwards. After the Communist Party established the People's Republic of China in mainland China in 1949 and the Kuomintang moved the Republic of China government from Nanjing to Taipei of Taiwan, the United States continued to recognize the Republic of China as the legitimate Chinese government and maintained its embassy in Taiwan. However, in 1973, the United States established a Liaison Office in Beijing to represent its interests in mainland China. In 1976, the Chief of the Liaison Office was promoted to the rank of ambassador. In December 1978, the United States severed official relations with the Republic of China and in January 1979, established formal relations with the People's Republic of China. The United States Liaison Office in Beijing was upgraded to an embassy on March 1, 1979. The American Institute in Taiwan was established in 1979 to serve as the unofficial United States representative to Taiwan, with the director of its Taipei Office taking the role of a de facto ambassador.

Chronology

Representation is as follows (years refer to dates of actual service):

Qing Empire:

Commissioner to the Great Qing: 1843 to 1857
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: 1858 to 1912

Republic of China:

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Republic of China: 1913 to 1935
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of China: 1935 to 1979
Director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan: 1979 to present

People's Republic of China:

Chief of the United States Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China: 1973 to 1979
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the People's Republic of China: since 1979

List of envoys to the Qing Empire

Name	Home state	Presented credentials	Terminated
Caleb Cushing	Massachusetts	June 12, 1844	August 27, 1844
Alexander Hill Everett	Massachusetts	October 26, 1846	June 28, 1847
John W. Davis	Indiana	October 6, 1848	May 25, 1850
Humphrey Marshall	Kentucky	July 4, 1853	January 27, 1854
Robert Milligan McLane	Maryland	November 3, 1854	December 12, 1854
Peter Parker	Massachusetts	July 15, 1856	August 25, 1857
William B. Reed	Pennsylvania	May 3, 1858	November 11, 1858
John Elliott Ward	Georgia	August 10, 1859	December 15, 1860
Anson Burlingame	Massachusetts	August 20, 1862	November 21, 1867
John Ross Browne	California	October 28, 1868	July 5, 1869
Frederick Low	California	April 27, 1870	July 24, 1873
Benjamin Avery	California	November 29, 1874	November 8, 1875
George Seward	California	April 24, 1876	August 16, 1880
James Burrill Angell	Michigan	August 16, 1880	October 4, 1881
John Russell Young	New York	August 17, 1882	April 7, 1885
Charles Harvey Denby	Indiana	October 1, 1885	July 8, 1898
Edwin H. Conger	Iowa	July 8, 1898	April 4, 1905
William Woodville Rockhill	District of Columbia	June 17, 1905	June 1, 1909
William J. Calhoun	Illinois	April 21, 1910	February 26, 1913

List of envoys to the Republic of China

Name	Home state	Presented credentials	Terminated
William J. Calhoun	Illinois	April 21, 1910	February 26, 1913
Paul Samuel Reinsch	Wisconsin	November 15, 1913	September 15, 1919
Charles Richard Crane	Illinois	June 12, 1920	July 2, 1921
Jacob Gould Schurman	New York	September 12, 1921	April 15, 1925
John Van Antwerp MacMurray	New Jersey	July 15, 1925	November 22, 1929
Nelson T. Johnson	Oklahoma	February 1, 1930	September 17, 1935
George Marshall	Virginia	December 20, 1945	January 1947

List of ambassadors to the Republic of China

Name	Birthplace	Presented credentials	Terminated
Nelson T. Johnson	Oklahoma	September 17, 1935	May 14, 1941
Clarence E. Gauss	Connecticut	May 26, 1941	November 14, 1944
Patrick J. Hurley	Oklahoma	January 8, 1945	September 22, 1945
John Leighton Stuart	Zhejiang Province	July 19, 1946	August 2, 1949

The Communists took the Nationalist capital of Nanjing in April 1949, but Stuart was not recalled from China until August 1949. The United States did not recognize the new government of the People's Republic of China upon its founding in October 1949. The Consulate in Taipei was upgraded to an embassy in 1953, and therefore the Ambassador to China maintained residence at Taipei, Taiwan, in the Republic of China until relations were severed in 1979. (See: Former American Consulate in Taipei)

Name	Home state	Presented credentials	Terminated
Karl L. Rankin	Maine	April 2, 1953	December 30, 1957
Everett F. Drumright	Oklahoma	March 8, 1958	March 8, 1962
Alan G. Kirk	New York	July 5, 1962	January 18, 1963
Jerauld Wright	District of Columbia	June 29, 1963	July 25, 1965
Walter P. McConaughy	Alabama	June 28, 1966	April 4, 1974
Leonard S. Unger	Maryland	May 25, 1974	January 19, 1979

For a list of de facto United States ambassadors to Republic of China since 1979, see list of Directors of the American Institute in Taiwan.

List of chiefs of the United States Liaison Office in Beijing

Between May 1973 and March 1979 prior to the official establishment of diplomatic relations, the United States dispatched a head of United States Liaison Office in Beijing.

Name	Home state	Presented credentials	Terminated
David K. E. Bruce	Virginia	May 14, 1973	September 25, 1974
George H. W. Bush	Texas	September 26, 1974	December 7, 1975
Thomas S. Gates Jr.	Pennsylvania	May 6, 1976	May 8, 1977
Leonard Woodcock	Michigan	July 26, 1977	March 7, 1979

List of ambassadors to the People's Republic of China

The United States established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and terminated them with the Republic of China, on January 1, 1979. The American Embassy at Taipei closed February 28, 1979, while the American Liaison Office at Beijing was redesignated the American Embassy on March 1, 1979.

Name	Home state	Presented credentials	Terminated
Leonard Woodcock	Michigan	March 7, 1979	February 13, 1981
Arthur W. Hummel Jr.	Maryland	September 24, 1981	September 24, 1985
Winston Lord	New York	November 19, 1985	April 23, 1989
James Lilley	Maryland	May 8, 1989	May 10, 1991
J. Stapleton Roy	Pennsylvania	August 20, 1991	June 17, 1995
Jim Sasser	Tennessee	February 14, 1996	July 1, 1999
Joseph Prueher	Tennessee	December 15, 1999	May 1, 2001
Clark T. Randt Jr.	Connecticut	July 28, 2001	January 20, 2009
Jon Huntsman Jr.	Utah	August 28, 2009	April 30, 2011
Gary Locke	Washington	August 16, 2011	February 21, 2014
Max Baucus	Montana	March 20, 2014	January 16, 2017
Terry E. Branstad	Iowa	July 12, 2017	October 4, 2020
R. Nicholas Burns	Massachusetts	April 1, 2022	Incumbent

Notes

Diplomatic relations with China interrupted on February 12, 1912 upon the abdication of Puyi.
Diplomatic relations with China interrupted on February 12, 1912 upon the abdication of Puyi.
Diplomatic relations with Beijing's Beiyang government terminated and recognition given to Nanjing's National Government on October 1, 1928.
Upon normalization of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, Leonard Woodcock was promoted from liaison to ambassador in the new embassy.

References

Citations

"China demands U.S. halt Olympics 'interference'". The Globe and Mail. January 27, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.

Sources

United States Department of State: Background notes on China
This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.

External links

v t e China–United States relations
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Diplomacy	Treaty of Wanghia Treaty of Tientsin Burlingame Treaty Gresham-Yang Treaty Shanghai International Settlement American Concession (Shanghai) United States Court for China Treaty between the United States and China for the Relinquishment of Extraterritorial Rights in China Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the United States of America and the Republic of China Marshall Mission Loss of China China White Paper PRC-US Ambassadorial Talks 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China Shanghai Communiqué Three Communiqués One-China policy Nixon goes to China Nixon's China Game Harvey Feldman Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Goldwater v. Carter State visit by Deng Xiaoping to the United States Presidential Rule of Law Initiative Beijing–Washington hotline State visit by Xi Jinping to the United States 2015 United States–China Cybersecurity Agreement Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action United States–China talks in Alaska United States–China Working Group
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Incidents	Rover incident Chy Lung v. Freeman Cheong Ah Moy v. United States Chae Chan Ping v. United States Twain–Ament indemnities controversy 1905 Chinese boycott USS Monocacy incident Red Scare Qian Xuesen 1946 United States Air Force C-47 Crash at Yan'an Shen Chong case Lamont v. Postmaster General Hu Na Project Sabre II Yinhe incident 1996 United States campaign finance controversy Johnny Chung Liu Chaoying United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade Hainan Island incident Operation Shady RAT Operation Aurora United States diplomatic cables leak 2012 China anti-Japanese demonstrations Murder of Shao Tong Disappearance of David Louis Sneddon Trump–Tsai call Havana syndrome Animal Science Products v. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceuticals China Initiative Trial of Anming Hu Concerns over Chinese involvement in 5G wireless networks Meng Wanzhou Extradition TikTok v. Trump U.S. WeChat Users Alliance v. Trump COVID-19 misinformation United States Department of Defense China Task Force 2022 visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan Chinese espionage in the United States Cyberwarfare by China Alleged Chinese spy cases persecuted in the United States Cox Report Timeline of the Cox Report controversy American espionage in China Hugh Francis Redmond Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo Bay 2023 balloon incident Chinese interference in the 2024 United States elections
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Economic relations	Old China Trade United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission Group of Two Strategic Economic Dialogue Summer Palace Dialogue U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Senior Dialogue China–United States trade war (Trump tariffs) Permanent normal trade relations
Related	History of China–United States relations Hong Kong–United States relations Macau–United States relations Taiwan–United States relations Americans in China Chinese Americans Anti-American sentiment in mainland China Ruguanxue Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States Chimerica China Lobby Asia First Chinese Century China Hands China watcher Cold War in Asia Second Cold War Artificial Intelligence Cold War Ping-pong diplomacy Triangular diplomacy Peaceful Evolution theory Linkage (policy) String of Pearls (Indian Ocean) Thucydides Trap Hong (business) Air route authority between the United States and China Blue Team TPE (cable system) Protestant missions in China Elijah Coleman Bridgman Divie Bethune McCartee The 1990 Institute Boxer Indemnity Scholarship China Aid Society Chinese Educational Mission Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy Congressional-Executive Commission on China Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Kissinger Institute on China and the United States National Committee on United States–China Relations Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction US-China Business Council US–China Education Trust US–China Peoples Friendship Association Massachusetts International Academy Harvard Summit for Young Leaders in China International School of Beijing SARS conspiracy theory Yixian glazed pottery luohans Harvard Bixi William H. Hinton Human Rights Record of the United States USA pavilion at Expo 2010 New Federal State of China China Human Rights Biweekly Far East Reporter Duke-UNC China Leadership Summit The Coming Conflict with China A Great Wall: Six Presidents and China The New Chinese Empire The Art of Investing in America Death by China On China Peaceful War The Transpacific Experiment Stealth War: How China Took Over While America's Elite Slept Red Chinese Battle Plan The China Hustle
Category:China–United States relations

v t e United States ambassadors to China
Great Qing Empire
Commissioner	Cushing (Envoy) Everett Davis Parker (chargé d’affaires) Marshall McLane Parker
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	Reed Ward Burlingame Browne Low Avery Seward Angell Young Denby Conger Rockhill Calhoun
Republic of China (Beijing/Nanjing)
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	Calhoun Reinsch Crane Schurman MacMurray Johnson
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	Johnson Gauss Hurley Stuart
Republic of China (Taipei)
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	Rankin Drumright Kirk Wright McConaughy Unger
People's Republic of China
Chiefs of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing	Bruce Bush Gates Woodcock
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	Woodcock Hummel Lord Lilley Roy Sasser Prueher Randt Huntsman Locke Baucus Branstad Burns
See also: American Institute in Taiwan

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v t e Taiwan–United States relations
Diplomatic posts	Former Embassy of Taiwan, Washington, D.C. Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Honolulu Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States Twin Oaks Former Ambassador of the United States to China American Institute in Taiwan American Institute in Taiwan Kaohsiung Branch Office Former Embassy of the United States in Taipei U.S. Commercial Service in Taiwan Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Diplomacy	Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China Formosa Resolution of 1955 July 2002 state visit to the United States Trump–Tsai call 2022 visit by Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan Congressional Taiwan Caucus Senate Taiwan Caucus Six Assurances Transit diplomacy
Incidents	Rover incident Raid on Taipei Capture of the Tuapse May 24 incident Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Goldwater v. Carter One-China policy United States beef imports in Taiwan 2022 Laguna Woods shooting
Military relations	Chinese Civil War First Taiwan Strait Crisis Operation King Kong Second Taiwan Strait Crisis Third Taiwan Strait Crisis United States Taiwan Defense Command Yangmingshan American Military Housing American arms sales to Taiwan Major non-NATO ally
Legislation	Taiwan Relations Act Taiwan Security Enhancement Act Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 Taiwan Travel Act Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act
Related	American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei Formosan Association for Public Affairs International Community Radio Taipei China–United States relations
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