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Marc Knapper
Ambassador to Vietnam
Ambassador Marc Knapper is a decorated career diplomat focused on East and Southeast Asia for decades. He speaks fluent Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean, and is a recipient of the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award, the nation’s highest diplomatic honor.
Prior to his nomination and posting as Ambassador to Vietnam, Amb. Knapper served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Korea and Japan since August 2018. Before that, his highest role was Chargé d’Affaires from 2017 to 2018 and Deputy Chief of Mission from 2015 to 2016. He had also previously been assigned as Director for India Affairs, Director for Japanese Affairs, and multiple postings in Tokyo, Seoul, Hanoi, and Baghdad.
On China
Ambassador Knapper has been relatively vocal about his views on China. During a Nov. 2020 Brookings event titled, Prospects for US-South Korea cooperation in an era of US-China strategic competition, in which Amb. Knapper delivered a keynote address in which he discussed the importance of key U.S. alliances, particularly Korea and Japan, in helping to meet the China challenge:
[The U.S., Korea, and Japan] all should be able to stand up and speak out when we see bad behavior from China… We’re not asking South Korea, we’re not asking Japan to cut off or contain China. I think it’s important that when it comes to speaking out about Xinjiang, Taiwan, Hong Kong, I think we hope and expect that Korea, Japan, others, will stand up and and speak out on behalf of these things.
It’s the responsibility of countries like the United States, countries like South Korea, countries like Japan, to accept the respponsibility of speaking out on behalf of democracy, speaking out on behalf of freedom.
Notable Speeches, Testimony & Commentary
“Korea Chair “The Capital Cable” #24,” CSIS, April 15, 2021
“Prospects for US-South Korea cooperation in an era of US-China strategic competition,” Brookings Institute, November 13, 2020
- “US committed to improving S. Korea-Japan relations: Knapper,” The Korea Herald, April 7, 2021
Media Commentary & Public Perceptions
Biden Nominates Career Diplomat Knapper as Ambassador to Vietnam –Bloomberg, April 16, 2021
- U.S. urges Japan and South Korea to speak out on China –Reuters, November 13, 2020
Page Last Updated: June 24, 2021
*None of the personnel in this tracker are associated with the Institute for China-America Studies. All images used on this page are sourced from the official Biden-Harris transition website buildbackbetter.gov or the public domain.*
