U.S. Ambassador to China Clark T. Randt, Jr. Addresses the Workshop on Chinese Legal Reform at Yale Law School

On Thursday, November 15, 2007, U.S. Ambassador to China Clark T. Randt, Jr. addressed students and faculty at Yale Law School's Workshop on Chinese Legal Reform on U.S. efforts to advance legal reform in China.  In addition to discussing the U.S. Embassy’s rule of law programs and his own tenure in Beijing, Ambassador Randt spoke about the role of the Embassy's Resident Legal Advisor in Beijing.  For the past five years, according to Ambassador Randt, the legal advisor has played a critical role in facilitating U.S.-China exchange on legal reform and law enforcement issues and in deepening U.S. understanding of China's legal environment.

Ambassador Randt (Yale ‘68) was sworn in as United States Ambassador to the People's Republic of China on July 17, 2001, and is the longest-serving U.S. Ambassador to China.  Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he has lived and worked in Asia for more than 25 years.  Just prior to assuming his diplomatic posting, Ambassador Randt was a Hong Kong-based partner in the international law firm of Shearman & Sterling.  He is a member of the New York and Hong Kong bars and former First Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.  He resided in Beijing from 1982 to 1984, serving as First Secretary and Commercial Attaché at the U.S. Embassy.  Ambassador Randt received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1975.