James R. Lilley
Encyclopedia
James Roderick Lilley; born January 15, 1928 in Qingdao
, China; died November 12, 2009 in Washington, DC; was an American diplomat who served as United States
Ambassador
to China
at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
.
Born to American parents in China, he learned Mandarin at a young age before his family moved back to the United States at the outbreak of World War II. Lilley served in the United States Army
before earning an undergraduate degree from Yale University
and a masters 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
, the unofficial American diplomatic mission in that country, and as Ambassador to South Korea. Following 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 relations between the United States and China. Following his retirement, he published a memoir and worked as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
.
in coastal Shandong Province
, China
, on January 15, 1928, the son of American expatriate parents. His father, an oil executive who had moved to China to work for Standard Oil
in 1916, and his mother, a teacher, hired a Chinese nanny to help raise him, and he spoke Mandarin fluently from a young age in addition to French and English. In pre-war China, he befriended and played catch with a Japanese soldier. But in 1940, soon after the outbreak of World War II
, his family returned to the United States
as fighting between Japanese and Chinese forces began to ravage the coastal regions of China. In the United States, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy
and served in the United States Army
at Fort Dix, New Jersey from 1945-1946. During his army service, Lilley's elder brother, whom he revered and who was an American soldier stationed in Hiroshima
, Japan
, committed suicide. After his army service, he earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University
and later a master's degree in international relations from George Washington University
before studying classical Chinese at Hong Kong University and Columbia University
. Lilley began his career in government by joining the Central Intelligence Agency
in 1951, a result of his interest in answering the call to public service at the beginning of the Cold War
. In 1954, he married Sally Booth, with whom he had three sons.
As a CIA operative, Lilley worked in countries across Asia, including Laos
, Japan
, Hong Kong
, Taiwan
, and China
. In Laos, he worked to undermine the Communist insurgency, and he helped to insert a number of CIA agents into China. By 1975, Lilley was appointed to the position of national intelligence officer for China, which made him the highest-ranked expert on China in the American intelligence community. Early in the administration of Ronald Reagan
, he was appointed to the National Security Council
, where he served as the senior expert on east Asia. From 1981-1984, he served as Director of the American Institute in Taiwan
, which serves as the unofficial diplomatic liaison to the government of the Republic of China
. The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, so Lilley was in effect an ambassador to Taiwan in all but title. There, he resisted attempts by the State Department to end arms sales to Taiwan, which they hoped would lead to better relations with China. Lilley's resistance resulted in a compromise in which the United States committed to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan with no timeline for them to do so, and to this day, the United States has not ended the practice of selling arms to Taiwan. During 1985, he worked as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs. In the private sector, he taught about China at the Johns Hopkins University
School of Advanced International Studies and consulted for companies doing business in East Asia. In 1986, Ronald Reagan appointed Lilley the United States Ambassador to South Korea
, where he served until 1989. His tenure in Korea coincided with profound political change in that nation; the year after his arrival South Korea held the first real Presidential election in nearly two decades.
Lilley was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to be Ambassador to China in 1989, becoming the only American diplomat to head diplomatic missions in both mainland China and Taiwan. Bush and Lilley had a longstanding friendship that began when Lilley was the head of station for the CIA in Beijing in the early 1970s; at the time Bush was the chief of mission there. This personal relationship meant that Lilley often had the ear of the President on issues relating to China, and many of his missives home were read directly by Bush. In order to gain a better understanding of what was happening on the ground, Lilley began to bike regularly through the streets of Beijing soon after his arrival. Thus, he was familiar with the grievances of Chinese students who later that year participated in protests in Tiananmen Square
, and sympathized with their interest in a more open government and society. He criticized the Chinese government following the violent suppression of those protests, which garnered widespread international attention and condemnation. In addition, he harbored the political dissident Fang Lizhi
inside the embassy for 18 months before the Chinese government allowed him to enter exile in the United States. But despite his sympathy with the students' cause, Lilley argued against hasty action by the United States government such as the severing of ties, believing that such action would not have the intended effect. He also arranged for a secret trip by two high-placed United States officials intended to reassure the Chinese government that the United States wished to continue a relationship between the two nations. He did so, he later said, out of a belief that, "America...could contribute in constructive ways to a more open China." Despite his criticism, he remained respected by authorities in China, many of whom turned out at farewell parties when Lilley left China and retired from the diplomatic corps in 1991. His successor argued that Lilley's childhood familiarity with Chinese society gave him a unique perspective on Chinese culture and government.
Following his retirement from government service, Lilley became a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
focusing on East Asian relations and continued writing and speaking about the relationship between the United States and China. In 2004 he published a memoir, China Hands, dedicated to his brother, which dealt with his early exposure to Asia living in China with his family and his professional career. Lilley died on November 12, 2009 at Sibley Hospital in Washington, DC from complications related to prostate cancer
.
Qingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
, China; died November 12, 2009 in Washington, DC; was an American diplomat who served as United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
.
Born to American parents in China, he learned Mandarin at a young age before his family moved back to the United States at the outbreak of World War II. Lilley served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
before earning an undergraduate degree from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and a masters in international relations from George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
. He then joined the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, 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
American Institute in Taiwan
The American Institute in Taiwan is a non-profit, public corporation established under the auspices of the United States government to serve its interests in Taiwan...
, the unofficial American diplomatic mission in that country, and as Ambassador to South Korea. Following 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 relations between the United States and China. Following his retirement, he published a memoir and worked as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
.
Biography
Lilley was born in the resort town of QingdaoQingdao
' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...
in coastal Shandong Province
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, on January 15, 1928, the son of American expatriate parents. His father, an oil executive who had moved to China to work for Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
in 1916, and his mother, a teacher, hired a Chinese nanny to help raise him, and he spoke Mandarin fluently from a young age in addition to French and English. In pre-war China, he befriended and played catch with a Japanese soldier. But in 1940, soon after the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, his family returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as fighting between Japanese and Chinese forces began to ravage the coastal regions of China. In the United States, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
and served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
at Fort Dix, New Jersey from 1945-1946. During his army service, Lilley's elder brother, whom he revered and who was an American soldier stationed in Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, committed suicide. After his army service, he earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and later a master's degree in international relations from George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
before studying classical Chinese at Hong Kong University and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Lilley began his career in government by joining the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
in 1951, a result of his interest in answering the call to public service at the beginning of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. In 1954, he married Sally Booth, with whom he had three sons.
As a CIA operative, Lilley worked in countries across Asia, including Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. In Laos, he worked to undermine the Communist insurgency, and he helped to insert a number of CIA agents into China. By 1975, Lilley was appointed to the position of national intelligence officer for China, which made him the highest-ranked expert on China in the American intelligence community. Early in the administration of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, he was appointed to the National Security Council
National Security Council
A National Security Council is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security...
, where he served as the senior expert on east Asia. From 1981-1984, he served as Director of the American Institute in Taiwan
American Institute in Taiwan
The American Institute in Taiwan is a non-profit, public corporation established under the auspices of the United States government to serve its interests in Taiwan...
, which serves as the unofficial diplomatic liaison to the government of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
. The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, so Lilley was in effect an ambassador to Taiwan in all but title. There, he resisted attempts by the State Department to end arms sales to Taiwan, which they hoped would lead to better relations with China. Lilley's resistance resulted in a compromise in which the United States committed to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan with no timeline for them to do so, and to this day, the United States has not ended the practice of selling arms to Taiwan. During 1985, he worked as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs. In the private sector, he taught about China at the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
School of Advanced International Studies and consulted for companies doing business in East Asia. In 1986, Ronald Reagan appointed Lilley the United States Ambassador to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, where he served until 1989. His tenure in Korea coincided with profound political change in that nation; the year after his arrival South Korea held the first real Presidential election in nearly two decades.
Lilley was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to be Ambassador to China in 1989, becoming the only American diplomat to head diplomatic missions in both mainland China and Taiwan. Bush and Lilley had a longstanding friendship that began when Lilley was the head of station for the CIA in Beijing in the early 1970s; at the time Bush was the chief of mission there. This personal relationship meant that Lilley often had the ear of the President on issues relating to China, and many of his missives home were read directly by Bush. In order to gain a better understanding of what was happening on the ground, Lilley began to bike regularly through the streets of Beijing soon after his arrival. Thus, he was familiar with the grievances of Chinese students who later that year participated in protests in Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
, and sympathized with their interest in a more open government and society. He criticized the Chinese government following the violent suppression of those protests, which garnered widespread international attention and condemnation. In addition, he harbored the political dissident Fang Lizhi
Fang Lizhi
Fang Lizhi is a professor of astrophysics and former vice-president of the University of Science and Technology of China whose liberal ideas inspired the pro-democracy student movement of 1986-87 and, finally, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989...
inside the embassy for 18 months before the Chinese government allowed him to enter exile in the United States. But despite his sympathy with the students' cause, Lilley argued against hasty action by the United States government such as the severing of ties, believing that such action would not have the intended effect. He also arranged for a secret trip by two high-placed United States officials intended to reassure the Chinese government that the United States wished to continue a relationship between the two nations. He did so, he later said, out of a belief that, "America...could contribute in constructive ways to a more open China." Despite his criticism, he remained respected by authorities in China, many of whom turned out at farewell parties when Lilley left China and retired from the diplomatic corps in 1991. His successor argued that Lilley's childhood familiarity with Chinese society gave him a unique perspective on Chinese culture and government.
Following his retirement from government service, Lilley became a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
focusing on East Asian relations and continued writing and speaking about the relationship between the United States and China. In 2004 he published a memoir, China Hands, dedicated to his brother, which dealt with his early exposure to Asia living in China with his family and his professional career. Lilley died on November 12, 2009 at Sibley Hospital in Washington, DC from complications related to prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.
External links
- "The World Without US – A Documentary" – Ambassador Lilley is interviewed regarding the US involvement in Taiwan and Japan.
- Chai Ling and James Lilley (the U.S. Ambassador to China during the protest) interviewed on Charlie Rose June 4, 1996