Sir Alan Ewen Donald KCMG (born 5 May 1931) is a retired British diplomat who was ambassador to Indonesia and China.
Donald was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School, Fettes College, then Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA, LLM).
National Service with Royal Horse Artillery 1949–50.
Joined HM Foreign Service 1954: Third Secretary, Peking, 1955–57.
Foreign Office (FO), 1958–61: Private Secretary to Parliamentary Under-Secretary, FO, 1959–61.
Second, later First Secretary, UK Delegation to NATO, Paris, 1961–64.
First Secretary, Peking, 1964–66.
Personnel Dept, Diplomatic Service Admin Office, later FCO, 1967–71.
Counsellor (Commercial), Athens, 1971–73.
Political Adviser to Governor of Hong Kong, 1974–77.
Ambassador to Republics of Zaire, Congo Brazzaville, Burundi and Rwanda, 1977–80.
Assistant Under-Secretary of State (Asia and the Pacific), FCO, 1980–84.
Ambassador to Republic of Indonesia, 1984–88.
Ambassador to People’s Republic of China, 1988–91.
Director: China Fund Inc. (NY), 1992–2003; HSBC China Fund Ltd, 1994–2004; J.P. Morgan Fleming Asian Investment Trust Ltd, 1997–2001 (Fleming Far Eastern Investment Trust, 1991–97).
President, China Association, 2003–08.
CMG, 1979.
KCMG, 1988.
Hon. LLD Aberdeen, 1991.
