Tony Miller (government official)

In 2019, Miller joined other prominent Hong Kong former civil servants appeal for a commission of inquiry into Hong Kong's extradition bill saga.

Miller's writings on Chinese porcelain focus on carved porcelain from the Daoguang period, in particular the small group of master craftsmen who signed such desk pieces for wealthy private clients; the origins of delicately pierced porcelain cups and bowls brought to Europe by the Dutch in the early 17th Century (which owe their origins to even finer articles produced by private kilns as playthings for Chinese scholar officials); and how Dutch dominance of the porcelain trade in the 17th Century was facilitated by their alliance with Fujianese traders and early development of hub-and-spoke logistics.

During the 2010s, Miller became interested in the so-called “Yixian Luohans”, a group of three-colour glaze, life-size terracotta sculptures of Chinese monks, which had first surfaced in China shortly before World War I and are now scattered amongst museums in Europe, North America and Japan. Their discovery in the early twentieth century was intertwined with the German sinologist Friedrich Perzynski fascination with Chinese ceramics uncovered in northern China during the construction of railway lines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Miller was Chairman of the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre from 2009–16, during which time he urged the Hong Kong government to construct a third runway at Chep Lak Kok airport, and a Director of Hong Kong's Business Environment Council. Miller is a member of the Hong Kong 2047 Foundation and (in 2021) chaired the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce's Economic Policy Committee.

Miller worked with Sun Hung Kai Properties Group, one of Hong Kong’s largest family-owned listed companies from 2008. This included non-executive Directorships with Transport International Holdings Ltd. (2008–17); Kowloon Motor Bus (1933) Ltd. (2008–17); Long Win Bus Company Ltd. (2008–17), RoadShow Holdings Ltd. (2008–17), SmarTone (2010-present), SUNeVision (2011–13) and Autotoll (2016-present).

In 2006, Miller authored a seminal catalogue on Chinese porcelain from the 19th and early 20th century, "Elegance in Relief", which is frequently consulted at art auctions.

From 2004-2007 Miller was Hong Kong's Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. While representing Hong Kong in Geneva, Miller chaired the WTO’s Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights Council and the WTO Trade Facilitation Negotiating Group.

Following piling problems in some Hong Kong Housing Authority projects during the 1990s, a rare motion of No Confidence was tabled in Hong Kong's Legislative Council during 2000 against the Authority’s Chairman (Rosanna Wong) and Miller, then Director of Housing. The controversy evoked widespread media and academic attention about its impact on the administration of C H Tung. Although the motion passed (June, 2000), Hong Kong's then Chief Secretary, Anson Chan, defended both officials and regretted that Rosanna Wong had resigned ahead of the debate in an attempt to head off the crisis:

Miller's senior roles in the Hong Kong government included Private Secretary to Governor Sir Murray MacLehouse (later Baron) from 1979-1982, Government Information Coordinator (1989–91), Director of Marine (1991–93), Director General of Trade (1993–96, when he led Hong Kong’s negotiating team for the close of the Uruguay Round and as Senior Official at APEC), Director of Housing (1996-2002, see controversies below) and Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (2002–04).

Miller and his wife travelled extensively in China after 1979, visiting together every Chinese province at least once. During their visits to China, and in Hong Kong, they acquired a shared interest in visual arts and antiquities, from painting to porcelain. The common themes of Miller’s work are the human side of artistic and technical innovation, the economic and other developments that enable them, and the conversations between cultures that result.

Tony Miller married Wong Nga-ching (黄雅貞) in 1975 and they live in Hong Kong.

Miller was a prominent Administrative Officer in Hong Kong for thirty-five years from 1972-2007, spanning transfer from British to Chinese sovereignty. In recognition of contributions to Hong Kong's public administration during the period, Miller was awarded Britain's OBE in 1997, prior to British Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty, and Hong Kong's Silver Bauhinia Star in 2008, a decade into Chinese administration.

John Anthony Miller OBE SBS JP (Chinese 苗學禮 born 12 April 1950) is a former Hong Kong government official and civil servant, author, art collector and historian specializing in Chinese porcelain.

Miller was born in London in 1950, the first son and third child of seven siblings. Brought up in Bad Oeynhausen, Hanover, West Germany (1950-1953, where his father served at the Headquarters of the British Army of the Rhine) and Tripoli, Libya (1959-1962, where his father headed the British Command Secretariat), Miller's British schooling was at St. Josephs College, Ipswich. He graduated in Arabic from the School of Oriental Studies, London University (1972) and Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard (1984).