List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China

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British Ambassador
to the People’s Republic of China
Frederick Wright-Bruce

First Ambassador to Imperial China

Sir John Jordan
First Ambassador to the Republic of China

Sir John Hutchinson
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
WebsiteBritish Embassy - Beijing

The British Ambassador to China is 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)

Name Tenure begin Tenure end
British Monarch
Chinese Emperor
Sir George Elliot
February 1840 November 1840 Queen Victoria Daoguang Emperor
Sir Charles Elliot November 1840 12 August 1841

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

Name Tenure begin Tenure end
British Monarch
Chinese Emperor
Sir Henry Pottinger 12 August 1841 8 May 1844 Queen Victoria Daoguang Emperor
Sir John Francis Davis 8 May 1844 18 March 1848
Sir George Bonham 18 March 1848 1853
Sir John Bowring 20 December 1853 17 April 1857 Xianfeng Emperor

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to Imperial China

Name Tenure begin Tenure end
British Monarch
Chinese Emperor
The Earl of Elgin 1857 1860 Queen Victoria Xianfeng Emperor
Sir Frederick Bruce
7 November 1860 19 June 1864
Sir Thomas Francis Wade 19 June 1864 7 December 1865 Tongzhi Emperor
Sir Rutherford Alcock 7 December 1865 1 November 1869
Hugh Fraser 1 November 1869 28 November 1869
Sir Thomas Francis Wade 28 November 1869 6 November 1876
Hugh Fraser 6 November 1876 29 June 1879 Guangxu Emperor
Sir Thomas Francis Wade 29 June 1879 14 August 1882
Thomas Grosvenor 14 August 1882 17 September 1883
Sir Harry Smith Parkes
died in office
28 September 1883 21 March 1885
Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor
(chargé d'affaires)
22 March 1885 15 June 1886
Sir John Walsham, Bt
15 June 1886 28 September 1892
William Nelthorpe Beauclerk chargé d'affaires 28 September 1892 19 November 1892
Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor
19 November 1892 September 1895
William Nelthorpe Beauclerk chargé d'affaires September 1895 24 April 1896
Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald[2] 24 April 1896 25 October 1900
Sir Ernest Mason Satow 25 October 1900 1906 Edward VII
Walter Beaupré Townley chargé d'affaires 3 December 1902 21 August 1903
Sir John Jordan 19 September 1906 12 March 1910
William Grenfell Max-Muller
12 March 1910 28 November 1910
Xuantong Emperor

Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Republic of China

Name Tenure begin Tenure end
British Monarch
Chinese President
Sir John Jordan 28 November 1910 1 March 1920 George V Sun Yat-senYuan ShikaiLi YuanhongFeng GuozhangXu Shichang
Sir Beilby Alston 1 March 1920 1922 Xu ShichangZhou ZiqiLi Yuanhong
Robert Clive chargé d'affaires 1922 1922
Sir James Ronald Macleay 1922 20 December 1926 Li YuanhongGao LingweiCao KunHuang FuDuan QiruiHu WeideYan HuiqingDu XiguiWellington Koo
Sir Miles Lampson 20 December 1926 3 September 1933 Wellington KooZhang ZuolinChiang Kai-shekLin Sen
Edward Ingram
5 May 1932 3 September 1933 Lin Sen
Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan 3 September 1933 19 May 1935

Ambassadors to the Republic of China

Name Tenure begin Tenure end
British Monarch
Chinese President
Hon. Sir Alexander Cadogan 15 June 1935 5 April 1936 George V Lin Sen
Sir Robert George Howe 5 April 1936 2 September 1936 Edward VIII
Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen[3] 23 September 1936 20 December 1937
Sir Archibald Clark Kerr 23 September 1936 16 January 1942 George VI
Sir Horace James Seymour 16 January 1942 23 May 1946
Ralph Stevenson[4] 21 June 1946 1948 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]

Name Tenure begin Tenure end
British monarch
Chinese leader
John Hutchison[4] 12 October 1949 1951 George VI Mao Zedong
Leo Lamb[4][6] 13 February 1951 1953
Humphrey Trevelyan[4] 22 August 1953 1955 Elizabeth II
Con O'Neill[4] 26 June 1955 1957
Duncan Wilson
1957 1959
Michael Stewart 28 August 1959 1962
Terence Garvey 1962 1965
Donald Hopson 1965 1968
Percy Cradock August 1968 February 1969
John Denson 1969 18 November 1971

Ambassadors to the People's Republic of China

Name Tenure begin Tenure end
British Monarch
Paramount leader
Sir John Addis 26 January 1972 17 June 1974 Elizabeth II Mao Zedong
Sir Edward Youde 29 August 1974 1978
Sir Percy Cradock 15 June 1978 1984 Hua Guofeng
Sir Richard Evans 23 January 1984 1988 Deng Xiaoping
Sir Alan Donald 26 May 1988 1991
Sir Robin McLaren 20 June 1991 1994
Sir Leonard Appleyard 24 September 1994 1997 Jiang Zemin
Sir Anthony Galsworthy 29 December 1997 2002
Sir Christopher Hum 4 April 2002 2006
Sir William Ehrman 15 March 2006 2010 Hu Jintao
Sir Sebastian Wood 3 March 2010 2015
Dame Barbara Woodward 14 April 2015 2020 Xi Jinping
Dame Caroline Wilson September 2020

See also

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 [1], accessed 5 November 2008
  3. ^ "No. 34331". The London Gazette. 13 October 1936. p. 6536.
  4. ^ a b c d e 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."

External links