Diplomat who demanded the return of Shandong at Paris, ambassador for the Beiyang and Nationalist governments
Born in Shanghai, he took a doctorate in international law and diplomacy at Columbia. Returning in 1912, he became Yuan Shikai’s secretary for foreign affairs, and in 1919, as a member of the delegation to the Paris Peace Conference led by Lu Zhengxiang, he demanded in vain the return of Shandong; his plea that China could no more give up Confucius’s Shandong than Christians could concede Jerusalem became famous. Minister to Britain from 1920, he was the Beijing government’s foreign and finance minister, acting premier and acting president in 1922–27. After the Northern Expedition he joined the Nationalist government, protested the invasion of Manchuria at the League of Nations in 1931, was ambassador to France and Britain in the Second World War, signed the UN Charter in 1945, was ambassador to the United States in 1946–56 and later sat on the International Court of Justice.
Also known as: V. K. Wellington Koo · Koo Vi Kyuin · Ku Wei-chün
Activities and affiliations
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1912–1927
Beiyang government and warlordsParis Peace Conference delegate; foreign ministerMain
Diplomacy and international organization -
1922–1927
Beiyang government and warlordsActing premier and acting president
Government and administration -
1928–1956
Republic of China state institutionsAmbassador
Diplomacy and international organization
Career Timeline
- 1912Returned to China; Yuan Shikai’s secretary for foreign affairs
- 1919Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference
- 1920Minister to Britain
- 1922–1927Foreign and finance minister, acting premier and acting president, Beijing government
- 1931Protested the invasion of Manchuria at the League of Nations
- 1945Signed the UN Charter for China
- 1946–1956Ambassador to the United States
- 1957–1967Judge of the International Court of Justice