Susan Thornton
Susan Ashton Thornton is a former American diplomat and former acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.Biography
Prior to working at the State Department, Thornton worked at the Foreign Policy Institute where she studied and wrote about Soviet politics and contemporary Russia. She speaks Russian and Mandarin Chinese. Thornton is a career diplomat who has worked at the State Department since 1991. She has previously served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian Affairs since February 2016 and before that, she worked as the Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States Embassy in Turkmenistan.
She was appointed as acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs on March 9, 2017, and on December 24, she was nominated as the Assistant Secretary of State by President Trump.
Susan Thornton retired in August 2018 after then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stepped down. She was never confirmed by the U.S. Senate due to she being considered "too soft on China." In particular, US Senator Marco Rubio stated that he would do all he can to prevent Susan Thornton from being confirmed.
