Although not formally counted as one of the State Department's "China Hands", he was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in Peiping and Nanjing prior to the war, and served in multiple U.S. government and policy advisory positions covering East Asia for almost seven decades.
From January 28, 1930 until March 13, 1932, Breckinridge commanded the Marine Detachment at the American Legation, Peiping, China, and was promoted to brigadier general on October 31, 1931.