James Lilley, who was US ambassador to China during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, has passed away. He was 81. Born in Qingdao and a longtime China hand, both in the CIA and as a diplomat, Ambassador Lilley defined old school. His book China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia is part memoir and part diplomatic history as he weaves his own remembrances through some of the most turbulent times in Sino-US relations. (And if that’s not enough, the story of his adventures with Fang Lizhi in the aftermath of June 4 is priceless in and of itself.)
Update November 15: NYT obituary can be found here.
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