A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice,the phrase usually denotes an embassy or high commission,which is the main office of a country's diplomatic representatives to another country;it is usually,but not necessarily,based in the receiving state's capital city. Consulates,on the other hand,are smaller diplomatic missions that are normally located in major cities of the receiving state. As well as being a diplomatic mission to the country in which it is situated,an embassy may also be a nonresident permanent mission to one or more other countries.
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.
Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations,international organizations,and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II,Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution,their appointment must be confirmed by the United States Senate;while an ambassador may be appointed during a recess,they can serve only until the end of the next session of Congress,unless subsequently confirmed.
Douglas L. McElhaney is an American diplomat. He served as the Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina 2004–2007.
Emil Skodon,former United States diplomat and a career foreign service officer. He was the U.S. ambassador to Brunei until August 1,2008. He was sworn in as ambassador on September 7,2005,and presented his credentials to the Sultan of Brunei on November 1. A career diplomat and Minister Counselor in the Senior United States Foreign Service,Skodon had previously been Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Rome,Italy,since August 2002. He retired from the Foreign Service following his service in Brunei and is currently an independent consultant living in Washington,DC.
The Consulate General of the United States,Hong Kong and Macau,represents the United States in Hong Kong and Macau.
John Herbert Holdridge was an American foreign service officer and diplomat,who was best known for having taken part in,and later recounted,Henry A. Kissinger's secret 1971 initiative to restore United States diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. He also served as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore (1975–1978) and Indonesia (1982–1986).
Daniel Vern Speckhard is an American diplomat and nonprofit executive. Speckhard is the president and CEO of Corus International,an ensemble of faith-based organizations including Lutheran World Relief and IMA World Health,and is a former United States Ambassador to Greece and Belarus. In addition to his diplomatic and nonprofit service,Speckhard has worked as a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and is currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
Burton Lynn Pascoe served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations at the UN Department of Political Affairs from 2007 to June 2012,where he oversaw the UN's diplomatic efforts to prevent and mitigate conflict around the globe.
W. Robert Pearson is a former Foreign Service Officer who served as United States Ambassador to Turkey (2000–2003) and later as Director of Human Resources in the Foreign Service until his retirement in 2006. He became the fourth President of the nonprofit International Research &Exchanges Board (IREX) in November 2008.
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 General 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.
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.
Jay Pierrepont "Peter" Moffat Jr. was an American diplomat. He served as the United States Ambassador to Chad from 1983 to 1985. He was the first ambassador to the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in N'Djamena. He was a member of the Butler-Belmont family.
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.
Thomas M. Countryman is a career diplomat who served as United States Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation from September 27,2011 to January 27,2017.
Richard Merrill Mills Jr. is an American diplomat who serves as the United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations. He served as the U.S. Chargéd'Affaires and Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations between January 20,2021,and February 24,2021,when Linda Thomas-Greenfield became ambassador. In July 2022,he was announced as the nominee to serve as the United States ambassador to Nigeria.
Kelly Colleen Degnan is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor,who served as the United States Ambassador to Georgia from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that she served as the Political Advisor to the Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe / United States Naval Forces Africa. Previously,she was the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) to the U.S. Mission to Italy and San Marino in Rome,Italy. In September 2019,she was nominated to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Georgia.
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.
Thomas E. Cooney is a former American diplomat who most recently served as the charge d'affaires of the United States Embassy to Buenos Aires,Argentina from 2017 to 2018. He retired from the State Department with the senior rank of Minister Counselor in 2019 and became Vice President of Global Public Policy for General Motors in Detroit. In 2023,he joined Capital Group,a large global asset management financial company,in its Los Angeles headquarters as Vice President and International Policy Advisor.
Sagi Karni is an Israeli diplomat. He was the Ambassador of Israel to Singapore from 2019 to 2023,and Ambassador to Angola and non-resident Ambassador to Mozambique and São Toméand Príncipe from 2008 to 2010. Other major posts including Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau from 2013 to 2017,Counselor for Political affairs &Press of Israeli Mission to the EU in Brussel from 2005 to 2008,Deputy Chief of Mission of Israeli Embassy in Oslo from 2000 to 2001,and Second Secretary of Israeli Embassy in Beijing from 1998 to 2000.
