The United States Ambassador to China is the chief

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

to People's Republic of China (PRC). The United States has sent diplomatic representatives to

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 ...

since 1844, when

Caleb Cushing Caleb Cushing (January 17, 1800 – January 2, 1879) was an American Democratic politician and diplomat who served as a Congressman from Massachusetts and Attorney General under President Franklin Pierce. He was an eager proponent of territoria ...

, 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 U.S. 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 U.S. recognized the Beiyang Government in Beijing from 1912 to 1928 and the Nationalist Government in Nanjing (and

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

from 1937 to 1945) from 1928 onwards. After the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

People's Republic of China was established in mainland China in 1949 and the Kuomintang moved the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

government from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan, the U.S. continued to recognize the Republic of China as the legitimate Chinese government and maintained its embassy in Taiwan. However, in 1973, the U.S. 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 U.S. severed official relations with the Republic of China and in January 1979, established formal relations with the People's Republic of China. The U.S. 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 U.S. 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

: 1913 to 1935 *Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the

: 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 U.S. 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

List of envoys to the Republic of China

List of ambassadors to the Republic of China

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

until relations were severed in 1979. (See:

Former American Consulate in Taipei The Embassy of the United States, Taipei () is a former United States diplomatic mission in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building current houses the Taipei Film House () as a movie theater. History Empire of Japan At the end of the 19 ...

) For a list of ''de facto'' U.S. ambassadors to Republic of China since 1979, see list of Directors of the American Institute in Taiwan.

List of chiefs of the U.S. 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 U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing.

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

, 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.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

United States Department of State: Background notes on China
*

External links

United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for ChinaUnited States Department of State: ChinaUnited States Embassy in Beijing
{{Taiwan–United States relations

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

United States