Under the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is exclusively in charge of its internal affairs and external relations, whilst the central government of China is responsible for its foreign affairs and defence. As a separate customs territory, Hong Kong maintains and develops relations with foreign states and regions, and plays an active role in such international organisations as World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in its own right under the name of Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong participates in 16 projects of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The American Institute in Taiwan is the corporate entity through which the United States conducts its relations with Taiwan and functions as a de facto embassy by the US. It derives its powers from the Taiwan Relations Act enacted in January 1979 and is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization. The institute was created in response to the country's establishment of formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and subsequently termination of diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC). AIT has been headquartered in Arlington, Virginia since its inception in September 1979 and its branch office in Taiwan operates in a similar function to an embassy, with some sources referring to it as the country's embassy in Taiwan.The AIT director performs as a de facto ambassador on behalf of the American interests, like other U.S. envoys abroad, who is appointed by the U.S. Department of State. The institute receives funding and operational guidance from the Department of State and premise protection from the United States Marine Corps.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), also known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Taipei Representative Office (TRO) or Taipei Mission, is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a de facto embassy or a consulate of the Republic of China to exercise the foreign affairs and consular services in specific countries which have established formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. As the PRC denies the legitimacy of the ROC as a sovereign state and claims the ROC-controlled territories as an integral part of its China. An exclusive mandate namely One-China policy, mandates any country that wishes to establish a diplomatic relationship with the PRC must first sever any formal relationship with the ROC. According to The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, "non-recognition of the Taiwanese government is a prerequisite for conducting formal diplomatic relations with the PRC—in effect forcing other governments to choose between Beijing and Taipei." As a result, these countries only allow the ROC to establish representative offices instead of a fully-fledged embassy or consulate for the purpose of conducting practical bilateral relations without granting full diplomatic recognition.
A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Under the Basic Law, Macau's diplomatic relations and defence are the responsibility of the central government of China. Except diplomatic relations and defence, nonetheless, Macau has retained considerable autonomy in all aspects, including economic and commercial relations, customs control.
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country, usually an embassy. The term "consulate" may refer not only to the office of a consul, but also to the building occupied by the consul and the consul's staff. The consulate may share premises with the embassy itself.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a cabinet-level ministry in the government of Taiwan. It is headquartered in the capital Taipei, Taiwan. The incumbent minister is Joseph Wu, who took office in 2018 and is affiliated with the Democratic Progressive Party.
The Consulate General of the United States, Hong Kong and Macau, represents the United States in Hong Kong and Macau.
There are 122 diplomatic missions in Hong Kong, of which 61 are consulates-general and 61 are consulates and six officially recognised bodies in Hong Kong. As Hong Kong has the status of a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, some consuls-general in Hong Kong report directly to their respective foreign ministries, rather than to their Embassies in Beijing.
After the United States established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1979 and recognized Beijing as the only legal government of China, Taiwan–United States relations became unofficial and informal following terms of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which allows the United States to have relations with the Taiwanese people and their government, whose name is not specified. U.S.–Taiwan relations were further informally grounded in the "Six Assurances" in response to the third communiqué on the establishment of US–PRC relations. The Taiwan Travel Act, passed by the U.S. Congress on March 16, 2018, allows high-level U.S. officials to visit Taiwan and vice versa. Both sides have since signed a consular agreement formalizing their existent consular relations on September 13, 2019. The US government removed self-imposed restrictions on executive branch contacts with Taiwan on January 9, 2021.
The Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao represents Canada in the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China. As Hong Kong was linked to the Commonwealth during British administration, Canada's mission was called the Canadian Commission before the transfer of sovereignty to China on July 1, 1997. Since 1980, the Head of Mission in Hong Kong has also served as Consul-General to Macau.
Stephen Markley Young is an American diplomat who was the Consul General of the Consulate General of the United States in Hong Kong under the State department in the Obama administration.
There are 15 consular missions in Macau, of which four are consulates-general, one is a consular office and ten are honorary consuls.
A de facto embassy is an office or organisation that serves de facto as an embassy in the absence of normal or official diplomatic relations among countries, usually to represent nations which lack full diplomatic recognition, regions or dependencies of countries, or territories over which sovereignty is disputed. In some cases, diplomatic immunity and extraterritoriality may be granted.
The Embassy of the United States, Taipei is a former United States diplomatic mission in Zhongshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building currently houses the Taipei Film House as a movie theater.
Kin Wah Moy (born 1966) is an American diplomat and holds the diplomatic rank of career minister. He is the first Chinese-American to hold the post as director of the American Institute in Taiwan. Having served in the Department of State and several diplomatic outposts, he began his tenure as the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy of the United States in Taiwan, in June 2015.
Susan Ashton Thornton is a former American diplomat and former acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Matthew John Matthews was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Brunei from 2019 to 2020.
Michael Hanscom Smith is a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service who had served as Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau from July 2019 to July 2022. Smith has also served as Consul General in Shanghai (2014–2017), Director/Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs at the Department of State. He also served as Economic Section Chief at the Taipei Main Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and team leader at the United States Provincial Reconstruction Team in the Iraqi Province of Muthanna.
The Consulate of the United States, Nagoya is a consular post of the United States in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
United States