John Boyd (diplomat)

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Sir John Dixon Iklé Boyd KCMG (born January 17, 1936 - October 18, 2019 ) was a British diplomat who was Deputy Undersecretary of State at the State Department from 1987 to 1989 and most recently from 1992 to 1996 Ambassador to Japan . Boyd became a specialist in China and Hong Kong because of its various uses .

Life

Studies, start of diplomatic career and China specialist

Boyd graduated after attending the prestigious Westminster School studying modern languages at Clare College of the University of Cambridge . In 1962 he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Foreign Office ) and found use in Governor of Hong Kong . However, he first began a two-year study of the Chinese language at Yale University , which he completed with a Master of Arts (MA).

After he returned to the office of the Governor of Hong Kong back and changed in February 1965, the Diplomatic representation in the People's Republic of China , at the time by Terence Garvey and shortly afterwards by Donald Hopson as charge d'affaires was headed. During this period, the People's Republic of China recovered from its economic hardships and the effects of the Great Leap Famine, which estimated between 15 and 45 million people to die. On the other hand, the Cultural Revolution began in 1966 as a movement to eliminate grievances in state and society , in the course of which the British Reuters journalist Anthony Gray was arrested for reporting on the Cultural Revolution, which was accompanied by massive human rights violations and political murders. On July 12, 1966 he was accepted into the diplomatic service (Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service) .

After his return to Great Britain, Boyd was advisor for Poland and Eastern Europe in the North Department of the State Department, headed by Howard Smith , which dealt with Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In 1968 he then became a China advisor in the Foreign Ministry's Far East division responsible for China, Taiwan, the Mongolian People's Republic and Japan . In 1969 he moved to the US embassy , where he worked as a consultant for Asia in the embassy chancellery, where he dealt in particular with questions about the Vietnam War , but also about SEATO . In addition, he dealt with the rapprochement between the USA and the People's Republic of China, known as " ping-pong diplomacy ", which ultimately led to Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972 .

In 1973 Boyd became first secretary at the newly created embassy in the People's Republic of China, where he initially worked for Ambassador John Mansfield Addis and, from August 29, 1978, for his successor Edward Youde . After three years at the embassy in Beijing followed 1976-1977 secondment to the Treasury ( HM Treasury ) , where he dealt with the issue of financing permits for oil companies.

Deputy Undersecretary and Ambassador

Thereupon he acted from 1977 to 1981 as counselor and head of the economic department at the embassy in the Federal Republic of Germany and thus a close associate of the then ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany Oliver Wright . After finishing his assignment in Bonn , Boyd returned to the United States, this time serving as Counselor at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City from 1981 to 1984 . There he worked for the then Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, Anthony Derrick Parsons and, since 1982, of John Adam Thomson, and in particular was responsible for questions relating to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations .

In 1984 Boyd was appointed Assistant Under-Secretary of State to the State Department to relieve Deputy Under-Secretary of State Percy Cradock and Undersecretary of State David Wilson , who deal with the Hong Kong and Far East Division. Unit were intensively involved in the negotiations with the People's Republic of China on the negotiations on the reintegration of Hong Kong , which ultimately led to the signing of the Sino-British joint declaration on Hong Kong on December 19, 1984. During this time he himself dealt with trade problems with Malaysia as well as with questions about the lifting of restrictions in the constitution of Australia . He then served from January 1985 to January 1987 as Political Advisor to the Governor of Hong Kong, Edward Youde. In 1985 he was named Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) for his services .

1987 Boyd returned to the State Department and was initially until 1989 Deputy Under-Secretary of State (Defense and Intelligence) . Among other things, he was responsible for relations with the Ministry of Defense and the coordination of counter-terrorism and was a member of the Joint Intelligence Committee ( JIC ) , chaired by former Deputy Undersecretary Percy Cradock. He then held the position of Chief Clerk in the Foreign Ministry from 1989 to 1992 , dealing primarily with internal administrative tasks in the diplomatic service and the Foreign Ministry. On June 13, 1992 he was made Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG), so that from then on he carried the suffix "Sir".

Most recently, Boyd succeeded John Whitehead as ambassador to Japan in 1992 . He held this post until he retired in 1996. During this time he was part of the delegation led by the Minister of State for Overseas Development Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallasey at the first Tokyo International Conference on the Development of Africa TICAD-I (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) . He was succeeded as ambassador to Japan in 1996 by David Wright , who had previously also been Deputy Under-Secretary of State .

After retiring from active diplomatic service, Boyd was appointed on October 1, 1996 to succeed Alec Broers as a Master at Churchill College, University of Cambridge and held this post until he was replaced by David Wallace in 2006. At the same time, he was a board member from 1997 to 2000 from British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), but also temporarily chairman of the British Museum and chairman of the pan-Asian organization Asia House .

Boyd has been married twice. In his first marriage he married Gunilla Kristina Ingegerd Rönngren in 1968 and Julia Daphne Raynsford in 1977.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The United Kingdom recognized the Communist People's Republic of China in 1950 and sent a chargé d'affaires to the new capital Beijing . However, the People's Republic of China was not ready to exchange ambassadors until 1972 when the British consulate in Taipei in the Republic of China (Taiwan) closed. Then John Mansfield Addis became the first British ambassador to the People's Republic of China on January 26, 1972, while the previous ambassador to the GDR, Song Zhiguang, became the first ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United Kingdom.
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 44081, HMSO, London, August 12, 1966, p. 8950 ( PDF , accessed June 15, 2016, English).
  3. ↑ In addition to him, David Wilson was also a China advisor, while Leo Pickles was a Japan advisor.
  4. ↑ At that time the ambassador to the USA was first from 1969 to 1971 John Freeman and then between 1971 and 1974 Rowland Baring, 3rd Earl of Cromer . Charles Powell was the Ambassador’s first secretary and private secretary .
  5. ↑ Boyd's staff at the Permanent Mission to the UN included William Ehrman , who later was ambassador to Luxembourg and the People's Republic of China, and Glynne Evans , who later served as ambassador to Chile and to Portugal .
  6. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 52952, HMSO, London, June 13, 1992, p. 3 ( PDF , accessed June 15, 2016, English).
  7. ↑ London Gazette . No. 54543, HMSO, London, October 4, 1996, p. 13211 ( PDF , accessed June 15, 2016, English).
personal data
SURNAME Boyd, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boyd, John Dixon Iklé (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1936
DATE OF DEATH 18th October 2019