Bush Taps Lawyer and Ex-Yale Fraternity Brother as China Envoy

President Bush announced Monday that he will nominate Clark “Sandy” Randt Jr., a Hong Kong-based business lawyer and his onetime college fraternity brother, as the next U.S. ambassador to China.

A fluent Mandarin speaker, Randt earned a law degree at the University of Michigan after graduating from Yale. He served as U.S. commercial attache in Beijing from 1982 to 1984 and is a partner in the New York firm Shearman & Sterling.

He has “significant knowledge of China,” said Nicholas Lardy, a China expert at the Brookings Institution.

“Sandy Randt brings enormous experience in commercial, legal and business activity in Asia--a very important part of the bilateral relationship,” Lardy added.

If confirmed by the Senate, Randt, 55, would succeed Joseph W. Prueher as ambassador. A former commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, Prueher played a central role in winning the April 11 release of the 24 crew members of the U.S. reconnaissance plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet and then landed on China’s Hainan island.

Prueher was named by President Clinton to the post in 1999.

Randt, a capital markets specialist, has represented major international corporations in investment projects in China. He also has worked on the privatization of Chinese companies and has represented China-related initial public offerings on the New York Stock Exchange.

At Yale, when Bush was president of Delta Kappa Epsilon, Randt held the title of the fraternity’s social chairman.

Under their leadership, the fraternity became known for its toga parties, “the Alligator,” a dance that involved mostly writhing on the floor face down, and “squockey,” a hybrid of squash and hockey.