{"record":{"aliases":[],"appointmentIds":["china-be93180f10372b","china-27e19e9116b41c"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":[],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/wellington-koo-f9a69fcf99/","countrySlug":"china","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/wellington-koo-f9a69fcf99/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Wellington Koo was a diplomat of the Republic of China, serving in Washington both before and after that government relocated to Taiwan. He trained at Columbia, where his doctoral research examined the legal status of foreigners in China. His diplomatic career included the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, service as acting prime minister, and ambassadorships in France, Britain, and the United States. He also represented China in the founding of the United Nations and signed its charter.","Koo’s postwar Washington ambassadorship brought him into arguments over American policy toward the Chinese civil war. In August 1946 he told State Department official John Carter Vincent that a coalition with the Communists would endanger the Nationalist government and stressed the risk of Soviet influence. Vincent answered that General George Marshall’s efforts toward a coalition were intended to achieve a united China.","In May 1954, Koo pressed Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to negotiate a bilateral security treaty. Dulles raised the difficulty of protecting Taiwan without committing the United States to military operations initiated by the Nationalists. After retiring from diplomatic service, he served as a judge and vice president of the International Court of Justice."],"id":"china:wellington koo","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-f9a69fcf99bc7ff1f885.html","name":"Wellington Koo","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["columbia-koo","narrative-koo-roc-affiliation","frus-koo1946"],["frus-koo1946"],["frus-koo1954","columbia-koo"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-f9a69fcf99bc7ff1f885.html","relatedEvents":[],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-11-03","revision":"7484c2a7fb481adc","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"columbia-koo","locator":"Biographical profile","publisher":"Columbia University","title":"V. K. Wellington Koo","type":"institutional-history","url":"https://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/v_k_wellington_koo.html"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1946-08-13","id":"frus-koo1946","locator":"FRUS 1946, vol. X, document 12","publisher":"U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian","title":"Memorandum of Conversation by John Carter Vincent","type":"primary-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1946v10/d12"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1954-05-19","id":"frus-koo1954","locator":"FRUS 1952–1954, vol. XIV, part 1, document 193","publisher":"U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian","title":"Memorandum of Conversation by Walter P. McConaughy","type":"primary-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v14p1/d193"},{"accessedOn":"2026-11-03","date":"","id":"narrative-koo-roc-affiliation","inspection":{"inspectedOn":"2026-11-03","language":"en","representation":"published_transcription","scope":"FRUS 1952–1954, volume XIV, part 1, document 193; conversation of 19 May 1954","status":"document_inspected"},"locator":"FRUS 1952–1954, volume XIV, part 1, document 193; conversation of 19 May 1954","publisher":"U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian","title":"Memorandum of Conversation by Walter P. McConaughy","type":"primary-record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1952-54v14p1/d193"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-26","id":"mission-c3b3f6b01fc75ebfe9b0","locator":"Appointment and credentials chronology; its modern page heading does not identify the government represented by every historical entry.","publisher":"","title":"U.S. Department of State: Chinese diplomatic representation","type":"Mission record","url":"https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/91588.htm"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-26","id":"mission-0d67afec1359e1f0d972","locator":"Separates government representation, U.S. recognition, and the 1979 change in diplomatic relations.","publisher":"","title":"Office of the Historian: recognition and relations with China","type":"Mission record","url":"https://history.state.gov/countries/china"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"","id":"mission-081b79fa8c3bab1d44f9","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Wellington Koo — mission record (1946–1956)","type":"Mission record","url":"https://exhibitions.library.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/jewels/themes/east_asian/32"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-26","id":"mission-43a301dbb56e9082f46f","locator":"Nationalist-government representation, including the R.O.C. embassy after 1949 through the end of 1978. The P.R.C. flag does not apply to these appointments.","publisher":"","title":"Republic of China blue-sky, white-sun and red-field flag","type":"Mission record","url":"https://english.president.gov.tw/Page/96"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"","id":"mission-890e0cc5c9a3de6fc02c","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Wellington Koo — mission record (1915–1920)","type":"Mission record","url":"https://guides.library.columbia.edu/asianamericans/rbml"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"","id":"mission-1d43a1b38110847bd64e","locator":"","publisher":"","title":"Wellington Koo — mission record (1915–1920)","type":"Mission record","url":"https://library.columbia.edu/about/news/libraries/2014/2014_4-18_RBML_To_Digitize_Wellington_Koo_Papers.html"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-26","id":"mission-5c01dd28cd3c280a8637","locator":"The Washington legation represented the Beijing government in the early Republic. The July 1912 official notification specifies five equal stripes, red, yellow, blue, white and black, in 4:3 proportions. The southern government’s earlier use of the white-sun flag is not applied retroactively to these envoys.","publisher":"","title":"Republic of China five-color flag (Beiyang government)","type":"Mission record","url":"https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1912/d302"}],"topics":["Paris-Peace-Conference","United-Nations","Chinese-Civil-War","Mutual-Defense-Treaty-1954","Taiwan","Republic-of-China"]},"schemaVersion":1}