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.
Richard A. Boucher is an American diplomat who was deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2009 until 2013. He took up post on November 5, 2009. Prior to joining OECD, he was the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, a post he took up on February 21, 2006. The Bureau of South Asian Affairs was expanded to include the nations of Central Asia shortly before his confirmation.
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.
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 British Consulate General Hong Kong (BCGHK), located at 1 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong Island, is one of the largest British consulates general in the world and is bigger than many British embassies and high commissions. It is responsible for maintaining British ties with Hong Kong and Macau.
James Blair Cunningham is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan.
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.
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).
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 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, 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 Hong Kong 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.
Kurt Walter Tong is a business consultant and former American diplomat, and the former Consul General of the United States of America to Hong Kong and Macau. He joined The Asia Group LLC in July 2019 and is a Managing Partner at the firm.
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.
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.
Addison E. Southard was an American diplomat who served as Minister Resident and Consul General to multiple countries. After serving in administration roles in the Philippines and diplomatic roles in the Middle East and Southeast Asia Southard reestablished relations between the United States and Ethiopia. He later served as the Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau until the cities fell to the Japanese.
Deng Zhonghua is a Chinese government official. He was appointed as the Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) in 2018.
