David Coates (diplomat)

David Coates
Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ivory Coast
In office 2004–2006
Director General of the British Trade & Cultural Office in Taipei
In office 1999–2002
Personal details
Nationality	United Kingdom
Alma mater	University of Bristol[1]
Occupation	diplomat

David Coates (born 13 November 1947)^[2] is a retired British diplomat, scholar, former Ambassador to Ivory Coast and Director General of the British Trade & Cultural Office (BTCO) in Taipei.

Education and career

Coates was educated at the History Department, University of Bristol, then he studied Mandarin at the Stanford Center of National Taiwan University from 1972 to 1973, and taught in Taiwanese cram schools.^[3]

After joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Coates worked at the British Embassy Beijing as First Secretary (Commercial),^[4] from 1989 to 1992 he was assigned to Beijing again, as Counsellor (Political) and Deputy Chief of Mission. After returning to London, he served as the Head of Joint Assistance Unit (Central and Eastern Europe) from 1993 to 1995.^[5]: p105 and was promoted to the Head of Far East and Pacific Department (1995–98).^[5]: p958 In 1999, he went to Taipei to take the post of Director General BTCO in succession of Alan Stanley Collins, who was appointed as British Ambassador to the Philippines.^[6] Leaving his post in Taiwan in 2002,^[1] Coates served as the FCO's estate modernisation manager until 2004.^[7][1] and served as the ambassador to Ivory Coast from 2004 to 2006.^[5]: p105 After retiring from the foreign service, Coates became a research fellow of Taiwan Studies at the University of Oxford, and a visiting professor at the Graduate Institute of European Studies, Tamkang University, Taiwan.^[1]

References

1. 寇大偉 (in Chinese (Taiwan)), Department of Diplomacy and International Relations, Tamkang University, archived from the original on 8 July 2016, retrieved 8 July 2016
2. Great Britain: Diplomatic Service Administration Office (1999). The Diplomatic Service List. Stationery Office. p. 158.
3. 江靜玲 (6 April 1999). 專訪英國新任駐台代表: 寇大偉: 未來首重推動對台投資 在台灣學過中文、教過補習班 盼強化溝通管道共創彼此最佳利益 (in Chinese). China Times. p. A. 13.
4. Kandiah, M.D., ed. (2012), Witness Seminar: The Role and Functions of the British Embassy in Beijing, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, p. 40
5. Colin Mackie (2016), British Diplomats Directory (PDF), FCO Historians, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016
6. 鍾雲蘭 (12 January 1999). 英駐華代表 層級提高 寇大偉為英少有台灣通 三、四月間履新 (in Chinese). United Daily News. p. A. 4.
7. "Evidence Session: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2003". Foreign Affairs Select Committee. 14 October 2003. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2016.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Graham Fry	Head of Far East and Pacific Department, FCO 1995－1998	Succeeded by David Warren
Preceded by Alan Collins	Director General of British Trade & Cultural Office (BTCO), Taipei 1999－2002	Succeeded by Derek Marsh
Preceded by Francois Gordon	Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Ivory Coast 2004－2006	Succeeded by Gordon Wetherell