Embassy Of China, Washington, D.C.
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The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States () is the
diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...
of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, located in Washington D.C. The main chancery is located at 3505 International Place NW, Washington, D.C., in the Forest Hills neighborhood, while the visa section is located at 2201
Wisconsin Avenue Wisconsin Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. The southern terminus begins in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. Wisco ...
NW in the Glover Park neighborhood. China also operates consulates general in
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,
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,
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, and
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.


History


Qing Empire and Republic of China

The
Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
opened its first mission to the U.S. in 1875, with
Chen Lanbin Chen Lanbin (; 1816–1895), courtesy name Li Qiu (), was a Chinese politician and diplomat who was the first Chinese Ambassador to the United States during the Qing dynasty. Born in Wuchuan City, Guangdong, he passed the Chinese imperial exam ...
as minister. From 1877 to 1883, the legation rented the former luxury town house of Alexander Shepherd designed by
Adolf Cluss Adolf Ludwig Cluss (July 14, 1825 – July 24, 1905) also known as Adolph Cluss was a Germany, German-born United States, American immigrant who became one of the most important, influential and prolific architects in Washington, D.C., in the lat ...
on 1705 K Street NW, one of Washington DC's most distinguished addresses at the time. Then and until 1893, the legation was located in Stewart's Castle on
Dupont Circle Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...
; and later, under Minister Wu Tingfang, in the former mansion of Thomas Franklin Schneider at 18th and Q Street, NW. In 1902, the Qing legation moved to a purpose-built mansion designed by Waddy Butler Wood on 2001 19th Street NW. It is the oldest extant building erected in Washington by a foreign government, following the demolition in 1931 of the former British Legation on Connecticut Avenue, built in 1872. This became the legation of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
following the fall of the
Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
in 1912. In 1935, the
legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...
was upgraded to an
embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...
, and Alfred Sao-ke Sze became China's first ambassador to the U.S. The embassy remained in the same building until 1944, then moved to the former Fahnestock Mansion designed by Nathan C. Wyeth on 2311 Massachusetts Avenue NW, where it stayed until official diplomatic relations were terminated on January 1, 1979. That building is now the embassy of Haiti. Meanwhile, in 1937 the Republic of China's ambassador Chengting T. Wang (Wang Zhengting) started renting the Twin Oaks estate as ambassadorial residence from its then owner Grace Fortescue, and his successor Wellington Koo purchased it outright from her in 1947 for $350,000. The ROC kept it away from the People's Republic by transferring it temporarily for $10 in 1978 to a third-party owner, the Friends of Free China Association, and purchased it again in 1982. In the meantime, the
Taiwan Relations Act The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA; ) is an Act of Congress, act of the United States Congress. Since the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, formal recognition of the China, People's Republic of China, the Act has defined ...
of April 1979 provided additional legal protection to the Republic of China's ownership of Twin Oaks.


People's Republic of China

In the wake of the China-U.S. rapprochement of the early 1970s initiated by president
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
and his National Security Advisor
Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
, the principle of opening a liaison office, to be led by Chinese diplomat Huang Zhen, was agreed during Kissinger's visit to Beijing in February 1973, together with that of a parallel U.S. liaison office in Beijing. The first 10-strong delegation arrived in Washington on April 18, 1973, a few weeks ahead of the formal opening in May, and initially stayed for several months at the luxury
Mayflower Hotel The Mayflower Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown Washington, D.C., located on Connecticut Avenue NW. It is two blocks north of Farragut Square and one block north of the Farragut North (Washington Metro), Farragut North Washington Metro, Me ...
. For the permanent chancery, Huang initially tried to purchase the former International Inn, then called the Ramada Inn, a highly visible building on Thomas Circle designed by Morris Lapidus and first opened in 1962 (still extant in altered form as the Washington Plaza Hotel). The negotiation foundered on price, however, and the liaison office was established instead in two adjacent buildings on a significantly less prominent location: respectively the Windsor Park hotel and apartments at 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, and the St. Albans apartment building at 2310 Connecticut Avenue NW. The purchase was made at a steep price and publicized in November 1973. The Chinese team, which by then had grown to about 50 people, moved in soon afterwards. On January 1, 1979, this complex became a fully-fledged embassy in line with the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations released the same day. Meanwhile, in 1973 Huang and his team identified four houses on S Street NW in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, D.C. for the residence of senior staff, including the former Adolph C. Miller house at 2230 S Street NW that Huang had intended as his residence. Eventually China only purchased two of these four houses: the former home of educator and diplomat William Richards Castle Jr., designed in 1929 by Carrère and Hastings at 2200 S Street NW; and that of bankers William Andrew Mearns and Edward Stellwagen, designed in 1905 by Frost & Granger at 2301 S Street NW, which became the ambassador's residence. On March 1, 1979, ambassador Chai Zemin went from there to the White House to present his
credentials A credential is a piece of any document that details a qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or '' de facto'' authority or assumed competence to do so. Examples of credentials include ac ...
to
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
. The current chancery building in the International Chancery Center was built between 2005 and 2009 on a design by Pei Partnership Architects, with I. M. Pei as consultant. The construction contractor was China Construction America, a subsidiary of
China State Construction Engineering The China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC; ) is a Chinese state-owned construction company headquartered in Beijing. It is the largest construction company in the world by revenue and the 8th largest general contractor in terms ...
. The new building's first day of operation was April 1, 2009. The previous embassy complex on Connecticut Avenue was torn down in 2012 (except the 1922 St. Albans façade on Connecticut Avenue) to be replaced by a 130-unit apartment building for Chinese embassy employees, on a design by Phil Esocoff, since 2015 a member of the global leadership at
Gensler Gensler is a global design and architecture firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is the largest architecture firm in the world by revenue and number of architects. In 2022, Gensler generated $1.785 billion in revenue, the most o ...
.


Protests

Soon after the embassy opened in 1979, four members of the
Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...
group Revolutionary Communist Party, USA vandalized and ransacked the embassy as means of protesting the upcoming visit by Deng Xiaoping to the United States. The police caught and arrested all four members, including the leader, Jim E Loudermilk, who was found in possession of an unregistered firearm. Against U.S. Attorney
Earl J. Silbert Earl Judah Silbert (March 8, 1936 – September 6, 2022) was an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1974 to 1979. He was the first prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, alongside two other U.S. A ...
's objections, Judge June Green gave the group lenience and sentenced them to probation and $815 restitution. On February 5, 2014, the Uyghur American Association organized a demonstration in front of the Embassy of China in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the Ghulja Incident. In January 2022 a protest against China's hosting of the
2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...
was held in Washington, D.C. outside the embassy. Attendees included Chen Guangcheng and Chris Smith. Smith described the 2022 Olympics as the “Genocide Games.”


Street renaming proposals

In June 2014 during the
113th United States Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Presidency of Barack Obama, Barack Obama's presiden ...
, Republican
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...
introduced a simple resolution while Republican Representative Frank Wolf also proposed to rename the street in front of the Chinese Embassy after the Chinese dissident
Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...
. This would make the embassy's new address "1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza". However, both of them got stuck in the introduction stage.
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
reported that Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is the first-ranked Ministries of the People's Republic of China, executive department of the State Council of China, responsible for the country's Foreign relations of China, f ...
, dismissed the lawmakers' move as "nothing more than a sheer farce", and restated the government's position that Liu had been convicted for breaking domestic laws. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' also reported that when Hua was asked if China would retaliate by renaming the street in front of the Embassy of the United States, Beijing, she smiled and asked rhetorically, "Do you think China should take identical action as America?" Many Chinese commented online, suggesting China do just that. Proposals included " Prisoners Abused Street", "
Edward Snowden Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence contractor and whistleblower who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs. Born in 1983 in Elizabeth ...
Street", "
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
Road" and even "
Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist. Lewinsky became internationally known in the late 1990s after U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an affair with her during her days as a White House intern ...
Street". During the
114th United States Congress The 114th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from Ja ...
in 2016, both Sen. Cruz and Rep.
Mark Meadows Mark Randall Meadows (born July 28, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 29th White House chief of staff from 2020 to 2021 under the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the U.S. representat ...
introduced bills to continue the efforts. On February 12, the Senate passed Cruz's version unanimously. On February 16, the administration announced that US President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
would
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...
legislation for the renaming act. Hong Lei, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference that China hoped that the Obama administration could "put an end to this political farce." On February 23, Cruz's bill was referred to U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform but never cleared the House to present to President Obama for him to veto it. During the
115th United States Congress The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January ...
, on May 18, 2017, Sen. Cruz and Rep. Meadows re-introduced bills to resume their push to rename the address. After Dr. Liu's death on July 13, Bob Fu, a Chinese American human rights activist and pastor, told ''
The Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a nonprofit politics and public policy news website headquartered in Austin, Texas, United States. Its stated aim is to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. ''The Texas T ...
'' that he is "definitely more optimistic" about Cruz's bill getting enacted with President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
in office. In 2020, a group of Republican senators and representatives proposed renaming the street after whistleblower
Li Wenliang Li Wenliang (; 12 October 19857 February 2020) was a Chinese ophthalmologist who warned his colleagues about early COVID-19 infections in Wuhan. On 30 December 2019, Wuhan Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (Wuhan CDC) issued emerg ...
, who was warned by authorities after drawing attention to the initial outbreak of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
in Wuhan.


Gallery

File:Stewart's Castle - Washington, D.C..jpg, Stewart's Castle on
Dupont Circle Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...
, Qing Empire legation 1886-93 (demolished in 1901) File:Schneider mansion.jpg, Mansion of Thomas Franklin Schneider on 18th Street NW, legation around 1900 (demolished in 1958) File:2001 19th Street, N.W..JPG, Legation/embassy from 1902 to 1944 on 19th Street NW (now Chinese Embassy condominiums) File:Embassy of Haiti, Washington, D.C..jpg, ROC embassy from 1944 to 1978, previously Gibson Fahnestock House on
Embassy Row Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C., with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded ...
(now Embassy of Haiti) File:Cleveland Park Historic District.jpg, Twin Oaks Estate,
Cleveland Park Cleveland Park is a residential neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It is located at and bounded approximately by Rock Creek Park to the east, Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues to the west, Klingle and Woodley Roads to the sou ...
File:Chinese Embassy in the USA (old).jpg, PRC Liaison Office then embassy from 1973 to 2009 on Connecticut Avenue (demolished in 2012) File:Embassy of China in Washington, D.C.jpg, The current chancery building viewed from International Place File:Cloverdale, DC.jpg, Cloverdale, now seat of the embassy's Education Office


See also

*
List of ambassadors of China to the United States The ambassador of China to the United States is the official representative of the People's Republic of China to the United States. The current ambassador is Xie Feng (diplomat), Xie Feng. The official full title of the office is the ambassador ...
*
List of diplomatic missions of China This is a list of diplomatic missions of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC has the largest number of active diplomatic posts in the world, including 274 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 176 countries as well as 8 perman ...
* United States Embassy in Beijing


References


External links


Official website EnglishOfficial website Mandarinwikimapia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embassy of China in Washington, D.C.
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
China–United States relations Buildings and structures in North Cleveland Park