Introduction
Mark Baxter Lambert is an American diplomat currently serving as China Coordinator and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for China and Taiwan in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US Department of State, heading the Office of China Coordination and Office of Taiwan Coordination.
Early life and education
Lambert was born in Oregon. He holds a BA in history and political science from Willamette University and a JD from Baylor Law School (1987). Lambert's father Malcolm Lambert and sister Laura Lambert Brodie are both Baylor University alumni.
State Department career
Lambert joined the State Department in 1990 and between 1991 and 1993 worked in Columbia on human rights issues. After a two-year post in Japan he returned to Washington to work on military issues. Subsequently, he worked in the Office of Japanese Affairs on environmental and health issues.
Lambert began his post in Beijing in 2000 after two years of Chinese language training. He returned to Washington in summer 2003 for a year of Thai language training and was posted to Bangkok in 2004 to focus on US-Thailand political and military relations.
Lambert also served as Director of the Office of Korean Affairs and later Special Envoy for North Korean Affairs. In 2020 he was appointed a special envoy responsible for countering China's influence in the UN. Most recently he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.
In September 2023, the State Department announced that Lambert will succeed Rick Waters as its China Coordinator heading the Office of China Coordination and serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.