Richard Llewellyn Williams
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Richard Llewellyn Williams, (born December 28, 1929) is a former career member of the Senior
Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...
who, over three decades as a career U.S. diplomat, opened the
Consulate General of the United States, Guangzhou The Consulate General of United States, Guangzhou () is one of seven American diplomatic and consular posts in People's Republic of China, China. It is one of America's earliest diplomatic posts in the Far East. The consulate serves the Sout ...
, the first American consulate in mainland China since the 1940s, served as the first U.S. Ambassador to the
Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912†...
from 1988 to 1990 (Diplomatic relations were established with the Mongolian People's Republic in January 1987) and then was named Consul General in Hong Kong from 1990 to 1993. Williams was also director of Chinese affairs at the U.S.
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
during the Tiananmen crisis.


Career

Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1929. As a child on the radio program
Quiz Kids ''Quiz Kids'' is a radio and TV series originally broadcast in the 1940s and 1950s. Created by Chicago public relations and advertising man Louis G. Cowan, and originally sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, the series was first broadcast on NBC from ...
, he was "regarded by many as the best all around kid the Quiz Kids ever turned up," with particular emphasis on math and geography questions. From 1940 to 1945 in 38 cities across the United States, he and three others performed at bond rallies raising $120 million in support of the war effort; the group was featured on prominent radio shows of the day such as Jack Benny and Fred Allen, and was received by luminaries from Eleanor Roosevelt in the White House to Walt Disney in his studio. Williams served in the United States Army, 1953–1955, detailed to the National Security Agency in its early days. He joined the
Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...
in 1956. From 1965 to 1967 he was detailed to the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
correspondence staff. From 1968 to 1972 he was a political officer at the
Consulate General of the United States, Hong Kong The Consulate General of the United States, Hong Kong and Macau, represents the United States in Hong Kong and Macau. It has been located at 26 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, since the late 1950s. The consul general is ...
. Between 1972 and 1975 he served as an international relations officer for the
Bureau of Intelligence and Research The Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is an intelligence agency in the United States Department of State. Its central mission is to provide all-source intelligence and analysis in support of U.S. diplomacy and foreign policy. INR is th ...
. He was a country officer for
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
and
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
at the
Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
from 1975 to 1977; and then a student at the
National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...
from 1977 to 1978. In addition he was Deputy Director of the Office of Micronesian Status Negotiations (1978–1979), Consul General in
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
(
Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...
) (1979–1981) (recounted in his 2005 memoir ''At the Dawn of the New China'' ), and Deputy Consul General in Hong Kong (1981–1985). Williams was nominated by President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
to be the first U.S. Ambassador to the
Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912†...
(MPR) on May 8, 1988. Bilateral relations with MPR had only been established a year earlier, in January 1987. Given the infrastructure challenges in
Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...
at the time, the State Department decided to accredit an Ambassador stationed in Washington. Instead of co-accrediting an ambassador from a usually larger neighboring country, as was standard practice when the State Department did not have the resources to establish a proper embassy in a particular country, the State Department decided to base Williams in Washington in order to avoid giving the Mongolians the impression that it considered them an adjunct of either
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
or
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
. During this period Williams also served as Country Director of the Department of State's Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs, first through three years of warm Sino-American relations during which he spearheaded successful negotiations on such matters as the launching of US commercial satellites from Chinese sites.Ruan Hong, The Diplomat from China, p. 494, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 2007 Then during the particularly tense period following the events of the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...
, he provided daily briefings and policy recommendations to Secretary of State James Baker, and through the Secretary to President George H.W. Bush, while meanwhile heading a 300-person task force charged with locating and assisting Americans caught in China when the protests turned violent. For seven years following his 1994 retirement from the Foreign Service, Williams taught graduate level China-related courses at Columbia and New York Universities.


Education

Williams graduated from the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
(A.B., 1948),
Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...
(B.S., 1951), and
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
(M.B.A., 1953).


Personal life

Williams married Jane Xuezhen Khuo on March 25, 1961. They resided in Menlo Park,CA, until her passing on May 30, 2023, since which he has moved into retirement living in Oakland, CA. He has a son, Marc Williams, a daughter, Maria Williams Cypher, and three grandchildren, Eden, Elise, and Camille.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Richard Llewellyn Ambassadors of the United States to Mongolia Living people 1929 births University of Chicago alumni Purdue University alumni Harvard Business School alumni United States Foreign Service personnel Consuls-general for the United States in Guangzhou Consuls-general for the United States in Hong Kong and Macau