James R. Lilley

Ambassador
James R. Lilley
An older white man in a gray business suit and glasses shakes hand with an older Asian man wearing a light grey outfit. Other asian men in similar outfits stands in the background. All are in a formal room with curtains and molding.
United States Ambassador to China
In office
May 8, 1989 – May 10, 1991
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byWinston Lord
Succeeded byJ. Stapleton Roy
United States Ambassador to South Korea
In office
November 26, 1986 – January 3, 1989
PresidentRonald Reagan
Preceded byRichard L. Walker
Succeeded byDonald Gregg
Personal details
Born(1928-01-15)January 15, 1928
Qingdao, Shandong, Republic of China
DiedNovember 12, 2009(2009-11-12) (aged 81)
Washington, D.C., US
SpouseSally Booth
Children3 sons
EducationYale University (BA)
George Washington University (MA)
ProfessionDiplomat
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
 United States Air Force
Years of service1945–1946
1951–1954
Battles/warsKorean War

James Roderick Lilley (simplified Chinese: 李洁明; traditional Chinese: 李潔明; pinyin: Lǐ Jiémíng; January 15, 1928 – November 12, 2009) was a CIA operative and an American diplomat. He served as United States ambassador to China from 1989 to 1991.[1]

Born to American parents in China, Lilley learned Mandarin at a young age before his family moved back to the United States at the outbreak of World War II. He served in the United States Army before earning an undergraduate degree from Yale University and a master's in international relations from George Washington University. He then joined the Central Intelligence Agency, where he would work for nearly 30 years in a variety of Asian countries prior to becoming a diplomat.

Before being appointed ambassador to China in 1989, he was director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington's de facto embassy on the island, and ambassador to South Korea. After the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests, Lilley was critical of the Chinese crackdown and harbored a prominent dissident in the embassy, but worked to prevent long-term damage to United States–China relations. After his retirement, he published a memoir and worked as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

  1. ^ "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR JAMES R. LILLEY" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 21 May 1998. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.