{{Short description|British diplomat}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}} {{Use British English|date=July 2015}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Sebastian Wood | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}} | image = File:Sir Sebastian Wood.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | order = | office = British Ambassador to Germany | monarch = Elizabeth II | term_start = 21 September 2015 | term_end = 10 November 2020 | appointer = | predecessor = Sir Simon McDonald | successor = Jill Gallard | prime_minister = David Cameron<br/> Theresa May<br/> Boris Johnson | chancellor = Angela Merkel | president = Joachim Gauck<br/> Frank-Walter Steinmeier | order2 = | office2 = British Ambassador to China | term_start2 = 2010 | term_end2 = 2015 | predecessor2 = Sir William Ehrman | successor2 = Dame Barbara Woodward | prime_minister2 = Gordon Brown<br/> David Cameron | premier2 = Wen Jiabao<br/> Li Keqiang | president2 = Hu Jintao<br/> Xi Jinping | monarch2 = Elizabeth II | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|4|6|df=y}} | birth_place = London, England | party = | spouse = Sirinat Wood | relations = | children = 4 | education = Emanuel School | alma_mater = Magdalen College, Oxford | occupation = Diplomat | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = | blank1 = | data1 = }}
'''Sir James Sebastian Lamin Wood''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}} ({{lang-zh|s=吳思田|p=Wú Sītián}}; born 6 April 1961), usually known by his middle name '''Sebastian''', is a British diplomat who was the Ambassador to China from 2010 to 2015,<ref name=debretts>[http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/w/27195/(James)%20Sebastian%20Lamin+WOOD.aspx HE Mr Sebastian Wood, CMG], ''Debrett's'', 2010</ref> and Ambassador to Germany from 2015 to 2020.
==Career== Wood was educated at Emanuel School in London, then studied mathematics and philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford, before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1983. He was posted to the British Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand; then was appointed as a First Secretary to the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group working on the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong.<ref name=govbio>[https://www.gov.uk/government/people/sebastian-wood British Ambassador to China: Sebastian Wood], Government of the United Kingdom.</ref>
In 2002, while posted as a Counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington DC, he was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).<ref name=cmg>{{London Gazette |issue=56735 |date=29 October 2002 |page=9 |supp=y }}</ref>
===Ambassador to China=== In 2010, he was granted his first ambassadorship as British Ambassador to China.<ref name=chinadaily>[https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-01/27/content_9387824.htm Sebastian Wood new UK ambassador to China], ''China Daily'', 27 January 2010.</ref> He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to British prosperity and British interests in China.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=60895 |date=14 June 2014 |page=b4 |supp=y}}</ref>
===Ambassador to Germany=== In July 2015 the FCO announced that Wood was to become British Ambassador to Germany in September 2015.<ref name=29July>{{Cite news|url=http://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-her-majestys-ambassador-to-germany|title=Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Germany|publisher=Foreign & Commonwealth Office|date=29 July 2015|access-date=16 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Sir Sebastian Wood wird neuer britischer Botschafter in Berlin |trans-title=Sir Sebastian Wood becomes new British ambassador in Berlin |url=https://www.morgenpost.de/berlin/leute/article205758445/Sir-Sebastian-Wood-wird-neuer-britischer-Botschafter-in-Berlin.html |language=de |newspaper=Berliner Morgenpost |date=19 September 2015}}</ref>
In July 2020 it was announced that he would retire from the Diplomatic Service in November, and be succeeded by Jill Gallard as Ambassador to Germany.<ref>{{Cite press release|date=17 July 2020|title=Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Germany: November 2020|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-her-majestys-ambassador-to-germany-july-2020|publisher= Foreign & Commonwealth Office|access-date=20 July 2020}}</ref>
==Personal life== Wood is married to Sirinat Wood, a Thai,<ref name=21September>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thelocal.de/20180921/diplomacy-is-a-24-hour-rolling-news-cycle-says-uk-ambassador-to-germany|title=Diplomacy is a '24 hour rolling news cycle,' says UK Ambassador to Germany|work=The Local|last=Samrai|first=Yasmin|date=21 September 2018|access-date=16 June 2020}}</ref> and has one son and three daughters.<ref name=29July/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{s-bef |before=Sir William Ehrman}} {{s-ttl |title =British Ambassador to China |years=2010–2015}} {{s-aft |after =Dame Barbara Woodward }} {{s-bef |before=Sir Simon McDonald}} {{s-ttl |title=British Ambassador to Germany |years=2015–2020}} {{s-aft |after=Jill Gallard}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Sebastian}} Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to China Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Germany Category:Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Category:People educated at Emanuel School