US Diplomat. As Ambassador to China from 1989 to 1991, he was the chief US representative in that country during the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising. Born to American parents in Qingdao, China, he was educated at Yale and George Washington University. Lilley joined the CIA in 1951 and worked as an operative throughout Asia, becoming his organization's national intelligence officer for China in the mid-1970s. While in this position he befriended then chief of the US mission there, George H.W. Bush. From 1981 to 1984 he served as an unofficial diplomatic liason to Taiwan and in 1986 began three years of service as Ambassador to South Korea. He was appointed Ambassador to China by then President Bush just as anti-government sentiment among students and intellectuals of that country was reaching a boiling point. Lilley strongly denounced the communist crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests in June 1989, but successfully argued against severing diplomatic ties. He retired from the diplomatic service in 1991 and from government service in 1993.
US Diplomat. As Ambassador to China from 1989 to 1991, he was the chief US representative in that country during the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising. Born to American parents in Qingdao, China, he was educated at Yale and George Washington University. Lilley joined the CIA in 1951 and worked as an operative throughout Asia, becoming his organization's national intelligence officer for China in the mid-1970s. While in this position he befriended then chief of the US mission there, George H.W. Bush. From 1981 to 1984 he served as an unofficial diplomatic liason to Taiwan and in 1986 began three years of service as Ambassador to South Korea. He was appointed Ambassador to China by then President Bush just as anti-government sentiment among students and intellectuals of that country was reaching a boiling point. Lilley strongly denounced the communist crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests in June 1989, but successfully argued against severing diplomatic ties. He retired from the diplomatic service in 1991 and from government service in 1993.
Bio by: Rick Kauffman
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