Mr. James Keith
Senior Advisor for East Asia and Pacific Affairs

James Keith assumed his responsibilities as Consul General of the United States of America in Hong Kong in August 2002. Mr. Keith was most recently the Director of the Office of Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. He served in that position since July of 1999. Mr. Keith is a career Foreign Service Officer who served three previous tours in the Office of Chinese Affairs at the Department of State. He has served in overseas assignments at the U.S. Embassies in Beijing, Jakarta and Seoul. He also studied Mandarin Chinese in Taipei at the American Institute in Taiwan.

In addition to his Foreign Service postings, Mr. Keith was a member of the National Security Council under President Bush and Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft in the Asian Affairs Directorate from 1991 to 1992. He was also a member of President Clinton's National Security Council, working for the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor Samuel R. Berger from 1999 to 2000 as Director for Asian Affairs.

Mr. Keith was born June 20, 1957 in Roanoke, Virginia. He lived as a child in Tokyo, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Taipei. (While in Hong Kong from 1968 to 1971, he attended the Hong Kong International School in Repulse Bay). He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1980 after graduating with a B.A. degree in English from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Indonesian. Mr. Keith has received Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards from the Department of State.