USOC names Chef de Mission for Beijing Olympics

LOS ANGELES, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced on Wednesday the appointment of Judge Charles Carter Lee as Chef de Mission for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Judge Lee, 61, speaks Mandarin and has given various lectures on the California legal system in China in both English and Mandarin. He has served as a judge with the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 1989.

"Judge Charles Lee will make an exceptional Chef de Mission for the 2008 United States Olympic Team," said USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth. "His appointment was confirmed by a unanimous vote by the U.S. Olympic Committee Board of Directors. Judge Lee's experience, stature and knowledge of both the Olympic Movement and China is unparalleled. He will bring invaluable insight to our delegation, and we are honored to have him as a member of Team USA."

Judge Lee has visited China approximately 20 times since 1979. Most recently, in early 2008, he received a Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant to lead a series of lectures in Mandarin and English over a two-week period at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing. While on sabbatical in 2006,he received a Specialist Grant from the U.S. Department of State to give a series of lectures in six Chinese cities over a period of two weeks. On both trips, he discussed the state court structure in California and lectured on topics including judicial independence and suppression motions.

Not a newcomer to the Olympic Movement, Judge Lee was appointed as Envoy to the People's Republic of China for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC). After the Soviet Union announced its boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games, Judge Lee headed a LAOOC delegation to China for talks in May 1984, which concluded with China's formal agreement in writing to participate in the 1984 Olympic Games.

"I am deeply honored to have been selected to represent the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games as the USOC's Chef de Mission," Judge Lee said. "It is a wonderful honor and a great privilege. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with suchan exceptional group of athletes and coaches, as well as the extraordinary people who make up the USOC staff. I love my country, and I will do my very best to help our athletes achieve the best possible results. I remember fondly China's participation in our Olympics in 1984, and I look forward to renewing old friendships and making new ones."

Judge Lee graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1967 with a B.A. in German and from the University of Virginia Law School in 1976 after serving in the United States Navy. In 1972, he also took a two-year leave of absence from law school to study Mandarin Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan, at the Taiwan National Normal University's Mandarin Center.