Ted Lipman (born 1953) is a former Canadian diplomat.
He served in numerous roles including ambassador to
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
.
Life and career
He was born in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and was raised in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, the United Kingdom, and
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. His father was English and his mother was Russian.
Lipman took Asian studies at
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
and studied Chinese history at
Peking University
Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.
Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...
.
In 1976, he became a member of the
Canadian Department of External Affairs
Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department ...
. Positions held by him there have included special projects liaison in the Corporate Planning Division,
deputy director of the East Asia Trade Division, and director general of the North Asia Bureau.
Lipman's first work in Asia was to serve the Canadian embassy in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
from 1977 to 1980. Lipman then became the first Canadian
trade commissioner in South
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
from 1982 to 1985. Other positions held by Lipman include Canadian consul general in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
from 1995 to 1999, and minister at the Canadian embassy in Beijing between 1999 and 2001.
Lipman became executive director of the
Canadian Trade Office in Taipei
The Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT; french: Bureau commercial du Canada à Taipei; ) is Canada's trade office in Taiwan, which functions as a ''de facto'' embassy in the absence of official diplomatic relations in which Canada recognized t ...
in 2001, and held that position until 2004.
Lipman has also worked in the United States three times: as a member of the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
, as a consul and trade commissioner in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and as a consul in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
.
Despite being an immigrant to Canada, Lipman has commented that he has no difficulties in representing the country as a diplomat, stating that "Canada is a very free and fair country where people of various backgrounds thrive and that's part of our success."
In 2011 Lipman retired from the diplomatic service. He is currently the
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of the
Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, providing professional leadership to the foundation as it carries out its dual missions: promoting Chinese culture, and encouraging a deeper understanding of Buddhist philosophy in contemporary society.
Family
Lipman is married to famous Chinese singer
Zhu Zheqin, better known by her artist name Dadawa.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipman, Ted
1953 births
Living people
People from Rio de Janeiro (city)
Brazilian people of English descent
Brazilian people of Russian descent
Brazilian emigrants to Canada
Canadian people of Russian descent
Canadian people of English descent
University of British Columbia alumni
Peking University alumni
Ambassadors of Canada to South Korea
Ambassadors of Canada to North Korea
20th-century diplomats
21st-century diplomats