Claude Martin
Claude Martin (b. 24 Sept. 1944, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France) is a French diplomat, Ambassador of France (honorific title granted on 2 Oct. 2006), former ambassador to China (1990−1993) and Germany (1999−2007), who was instrumental in the international mediation to solve Cambodia’s post-war political transition, sealed by the Paris Peace Agreements (សន្ធិសញ្ញាសន្តិភាពទីក្រុងប៉ារីស ឆ្នាំ១៩៩១) on 23 Oct. 1991.
After studying political science (IEP and ENA) and Chinese language and civilization (INALCO) in 1962 – 1968, Claude Martin was a young cultural attaché at Beijing French embassy — and one of the few French diplomats fluent in Mandarin — when the Maoist Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966. As a career diplomat at the French Foreign Ministry, he was in charge of affairs related to international development and the 1972 integration of Great Britain to the European community.
As a special advisor to the French governmeent on Asian affairs, Claude Martin supervised the dramatic evacuation of the French embassy in Phnom Penh after the Khmer Rouge forces stormed the Cambodian capital city in April 1975. From Dec. 1978 to Sept. 1984, he was again posted at the Beijing embassy, contributing to the development of French-China economic cooperation.
As Director of the Asia-Oceania Department of the French Foreign Ministry, he was involved from Jan. 1987 to Oct. 1991 in the diplomatic process bringing Cambodia back to peace, in close consultation with exiled Prince Norodom Sihanouk. With the approval of the United Nations General Assembly in July 1990, the political negotiations between Cambodian factions led to the signing of the Paris Peace Accords and the formation of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC [APRONUC in French]) in 1992.
Leading frequent missions to China, Claude Martin was in Beijing during the Tiananmen Protests, violently crushed by the Chinese army in the night of 3 – 4 June 1989. In Nov. 1990, he was appointed ambassador to China, navigating the crisis opened by the sale of French military equipment to the Taiwanese régime, decisions he personally opposed.
Back in France from Nov. 1993, Claude Martin took part in the negotiations towards the expansion of the European Union and the conclusion of several agreements with post-USSR Russia. His expertise in European affairs disposed him to become ambassador in Germany in April 1999, and he stayed in Berlin until Sept. 2007 before being appointed senior advisor to the French Cour des comptes [Court of Advisors] and pursuing explorative missions for the Foreign Ministry until his retirement in 2012.
With a passion for theater, modern painting and movies, as well as a deep knowledge of French, Chinese and German literature, Claude Martin has authored two impressive (over 900 pages each) volumes of memoirs published respectively in 2018 and 2023, the first one distinguished by the literary award Prix Saint-Simon.
Publications
- La diplomatie n’est pas un diner de gala, Mémoires d’un ambassadeur, Paris, Editions de l’Aube, 2018.
- Quand je pense à l’Allemagne la nuit, Mémoires d’un ambassadeur, Paris, Editions de l’Aube, 2023.