- James Shen
James C.H. Shen (b. 1909
Shanghai, China - diedJuly 12 ,2007 Taipei, Taiwan ) was aTaiwan esediplomat . Shen served as the last official Taiwaneseambassador to theUnited States before the U.S. switched itsdiplomatic recognition to thePeople's Republic of China in 1979. cite news |first=|last=|title= James Shen, Taiwan's last ambassador to US, dies at 98
url= http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/16/asia/AS-GEN-Taiwan-Obit-Shen.php|work=The Associated Press |publisher=International Herald Tribune |date=2007-07-16 |accessdate=2007-08-04]Early life
James Shen was born in
Shanghai, China in 1909. Shen was educated atYenching University , which was located inBeijing . He earned hisMasters degree injournalism at the University of Missouri in 1935. cite news |first=|last=|title= Ex-envoy to U.S. James Shen passes away due to illness
url= http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/115070.htm|work=The China Post |publisher= |date=2007-07-15 |accessdate=2007-08-04]Shen worked as a
reporter and editor early in his career. He reported for media agencies throughoutChina ,Taiwan andHong Kong .Additionally, Shen began work as a
analyst andcommentator for the Chinese government. His early government positions included "section chief" of theMinistry of Information 's international department and as a department director for theGovernment Information Office (GIO).Diplomatic career
Shen served for a time as an English-
Chinese language interpreter and secretary forChinese Nationalist leaderChang Kai-shek . He was then appointedspokesman for theMinistry of Foreign Affairs and head of theGIO .Shen fled to
Taiwan with the Nationalists when Chang Kai-shek moved his government to Taipei following their defeat byMao Zedong 's Communist forces in 1949. Shen served as Taiwan's ambassador toAustralia from 1966 until 1968 before returning to Taiwan to become vice minister of foreign affairs between 1968 and 1971.James Shen was appointed as Taiwan's
ambassador to the United States in 1971. Shen arrived inWashington D.C. to assume his post just month's before U.S. PresidentRichard Nixon visitedmainland China on an official visit. While in China, Nixon signed acommunique with Zedong's government. The communique officially created the United States'sOne-China policy which acknowledged Taiwan as part of China, not as the legitimate government of all of China or an independent state. The communique was a huge blow to Taiwan's Nationalist government, which maintained that it alone was the sole legitimate government of all of China.James Shen continued his efforts throughout the 1970s to persuade the United States to continue to recognize Taiwan and the Nationalists. The Nationalists and the United States had been important
World War II andCold War allies until theNixon Administration . However, Shen's diplomacy proved in vein. The United States, under PresidentJimmy Carter , officially severeddiplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 as part of its One-China policy.James Shen returned to Taipei, in January 1979 and retired following the end of diplomatic relations with the U.S. He lived in Taiwan for the remainder of his life. Shen died at his home in Taipei on
July 12 ,2007 , following a lengthy illness. He was 98 years old and was survived by his wife,Wei-yi Shen .Since 1979, Taiwan no longer maintains an
embassy in the United States, since there is no official diplomatic relations between the two countries. However, Taiwan continues to operate a series of representative offices, called theTaipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office s, in Washington D.C. and 12 other American cities.External links
* [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/16/asia/AS-GEN-Taiwan-Obit-Shen.php International Herald Tribune: James Shen, Taiwan's last ambassador to US, dies at 98]
* [http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/115070.htm The China Post: Ex-envoy to U.S. James Shen passes away due to illness]References
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