page_title: De facto embassy
section_title: China and the United States
hierarchical_section_title: De facto embassy / Liaison Offices / China and the United States
caption_attribution_description: Leonard F. Woodcock
context_page_description: A de facto embassy is an office or organisation that serves de facto as an embassy in the absence of normal or official diplomatic relations among countries, usually to represent nations which lack full diplomatic recognition, regions or dependencies of countries, or territories over which sovereignty is disputed. In some cases, diplomatic immunity and extraterritoriality may be granted.
  Alternatively, states which have broken off direct bilateral ties will be represented by an "interests section" of another embassy, belonging to a third country that has agreed to serve as a protecting power and is recognised by both states. When relations are exceptionally tense, such as during a war, the interests section is staffed by diplomats from the protecting power. For example, when Iraq and the U.S. broke diplomatic relations due to the Gulf War, Poland became the protecting power for the United States. The United States Interests Section of the Polish Embassy in Iraq was headed by a Polish diplomat. However, if the host country agrees, an interests section may be staffed by diplomats from the sending country.
context_section_description: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to China, the United States and the People's Republic of China agreed to open "Liaison Offices" in Washington and Beijing in 1973, described by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as "embassies in all but name".
  Although the Embassy of the Republic of China on Taiwan remained, it increasingly became overshadowed by the "Liaison Office of the People's Republic of China", which, under Executive Order 11771, was accorded the same privileges and immunities enjoyed by the diplomatic missions accredited to the United States.
  George H.W. Bush, later Vice-President under Ronald Reagan and President between 1989 and 1993, served as Chief of the "United States Liaison Office" between 1974 and 1975. The last holder of the post was Leonard Woodcock, formerly president of the United Auto Workers, who became the first Ambassador when full diplomatic relations were established in 1979.
caption: Leonard Woodcock, last Chief of the "United States Liaison Office" and first Ambassador of the United States to the People's Republic of China
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