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.
Nicholas Platt is an American diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Pakistan, Philippines, Zambia, and as a high level diplomat in Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Japan. He is the former president of the Asia Society in New York City.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of the Chinese government, responsible for the foreign relations of the People's Republic of China. It is led by the Foreign Minister, currently State Councilor Wang Yi, who serves as the nation's principal representative abroad. The ministry is headquartered in Chaoyang District, Beijing, the country's primary diplomatic quarter.
The Consulate General of the United States, Hong Kong and Macau, represents the United States in Hong Kong and Macau.
There are 123 diplomatic missions in Hong Kong, of which 62 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.
David Duane Pearce is an American diplomat who served from 2013 to 2016 as the U.S. Ambassador to Greece. He also served as the United States Ambassador to Algeria, 2008–11 and as the U.S. Consul Geneeral in Jerusalem from 2003-2005. He was the Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2011-2012; and served as the Acting United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia from 2012-2013.
Richard Llewellyn Williams, is a former career member of the Senior Foreign Service who, over three decades as a career U.S. diplomat, opened the Consulate General of the United States, Guangzhou, the first American consulate in mainland China since the 1940s, served as the first U.S. Ambassador to the Mongolian People's Republic from 1988 to 1990 and then was named Consul General in Hong Kong from 1990 to 1993. Williams was also director of Chinese affairs at the U.S. State Department during the Tiananmen crisis.
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.
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 in Beijing is the diplomatic mission of the United States in China. It serves as the administrative office of the United States Ambassador to China. The embassy complex is in Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Clifford A. Hart Jr. is an American former diplomat. He assumed his responsibilities as Consul General of the United States of America to Hong Kong and Macau beginning on July 30, 2013. As Consul General, he is responsible for the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions. His most recent appointment was as the Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks, for which President Obama accorded him the personal rank of Ambassador.
The Australian Consulate-General in Hong Kong and Macao represents the Commonwealth of Australia in Hong Kong, and is also accredited to Macau. As Hong Kong was linked to the Commonwealth during British administration, Australia's diplomatic presence was exercised by an Australian Commission, until 1 January 1986, when it was renamed the Australian Consulate-General. From 1946 to 1972, Australia was represented by the Australian Trade Commission.
Christopher J. Marut is an American diplomat who last served as Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy of the United States in Taiwan, from 2012 to 2015. He also served as acting consul general of the Consulate General of the United States, Hong Kong and Macau from 2009 to 2010. He later served as foreign policy advisor to Commander, United States Pacific Command (CDRUSPACOM), Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr.
Kurt Walter Tong is an American diplomat and business consultant, and the former Consul General of the United States of America to Hong Kong and Macau. He joined The Asia Group LLC as a Partner in July 2019. He previously was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of State's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and replaced Clifford Hart in Hong Kong in August 2016. He arrived in Hong Kong on August 27, 2016, to assume his position as the Consul General.
Susan Ashton Thornton is a former American diplomat and former acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
W. Patrick Murphy is a career U.S. diplomat. A Senior Foreign Service Officer, he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2018 to 2019, fulfilling the duties of Acting Assistant Secretary, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia and Multilateral Affairs, 2016–2018. He previously served as Chargé d'affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Kingdoms of Thailand and Lesotho. He was nominated on January 16, 2019 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Susan Nan Stevenson is an American diplomat and career member of the Senior Foreign Service who has served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research since 2021. She previously served as the United States ambassador to Equatorial Guinea from 2019 to 2021.
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 has been serving as Consul General in Hong Kong and Macau since July 2019. 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.
David J Ranz is a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service who has been serving as Consul General in Mumbai since August 2019. Ranz has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs; and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Pakistan. Ranz was also Director of the Office of Pakistan Affairs.
