Background
Sze was born on April 10, 1877.
施肇基
Sze was born on April 10, 1877.
Cornell University.
He became the first Chinese student to graduate from Cornell University in 1901. He returned to China to work for the Peking government. Doctor Sze, along with Foreign Minister West.W. Yen, C.T. Wang and Wellington Koo, was part of a Chinese delegation which traveled to the United States in the fall of 1921 to negotiate with the United States. to impose a limitation of armaments on Japan and to de-escalate tensions over Japan"s aggressive, expansionist activities in Shantung.
From 1921-1929, Sze was head of the Chinese legation to the United States., representing the Peking Government and securing United States. support to contain Japanese aggression in northern China.
In January 1923, President Li Yuan-hung nominated Sze for the office of foreign minister, but of all the Cabinet nominations, Sze"s alone was rejected by the legislature. In November 1928, Sze was appointed minister to Britain and delegate to the League of Nations.
He was replaced in the legation to the United States. by Doctor Community College Wu. In 1931, he was tapped as foreign minister again, but declined.
At the time, he was actively representing the Republic of China at the League of Nations, denouncing Japanese military aggression in Manchuria and demanding the League"s intervention.
He warned the League that if it failed to act, China would have no choice but to re-arm. The League failed to act, so in December 1931, he offered his resignation. His offer was declined and he remained at post.
In January 1933, he was designated minister to the United States once again.
He presented his credentials in February 1933. In July 1935, after the United States and the Republic of China agreed to raise their diplomatic missions from legations to embassies, Sze became the first Chinese ambassador to the United States.
He was succeeded by C.T. Wang in 1937. Doctor Sze had been married to Yu-hua "Alice" Tang.
Alfred’s Sze’s elder brother, Shi Sao (aka Chao) Tseng (施肇曾 Pinyin: Shī Zhàozēng), born 1868, was also a prominent official and served as a diplomat in United States of America 1893-1897.
Upon returning to China he held several senior railway posts including Director-General of Lunghai Railways 1913-1922. Thomas Sze also attended Cornell and was later a director of the Chinese railroads. The chair of the Sibley school of Engineering at Cornell is named after South Carolina (U.S.) Thomas Sze.
Doctor Szeming Sze, was medical director of the United Nations from 1955-1968.
Deson C Sze was a banker and also served as a private secretary to Television Soong. Julia Sze-Bailey and Alice Wang, lived in Manhattan and Boston, respectively.
Doctor Sze died on January 3, 1958 at the age of 80.
Doctor Sze was a founding member of to the World Bank and was a member of the Advisory Council of the World Bank from 1947 to 1950.