Stephen M. Young (diplomat)

Stephen Young

Stephen Markley Young (Chinese: 楊甦棣; born 1951- ) is an American diplomat and was the Consul General of the Consulate General of the United States in Hong Kong under the State department in the Obama administration.

He took office in March 2010. As Consul General, Young is responsible for the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.[1] He was the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto United States embassy of Taiwan in Taipei, from March 18, 2006 to July 3, 2009. Recently, he was a member of the faculty at the National Defense University's Industrial College of the Armed Forces, located at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C.[2] Ambassador Young was U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic from 2003 to 2005.

Biography

Dr. Young was born in Washington D.C. and moved to Taiwan at age 12, where his father served as a military adviser to the Taiwanese army in Kaohsiung from 1963 to 1965. He was educated at Wesleyan University, where he received his B.A. and the University of Chicago, where he received an M.A. (1974) and Ph.D. (1980) in history.[3]

Within the Department of State, he has served in the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs and the Office of Soviet Affairs. He has been the Director of the Office of Caucasus and Security Affairs, the Director of the Office of Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs, the Director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Affairs, and the Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs.[4][5]

His overseas assignments include: two tours in Moscow, a tour in Beijing, Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, and Director of the AIT in Taipei, Taiwan. He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and Russian. [3]

As the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong, he also oversaw Macau – United States relations.[6]

Personal

Dr. Young is married to Barbara A. Finamore, an attorney who heads the China Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. They have three children: Michael is working in Washington, DC; Rebecca is working in Seattle, WA; and Patrick is a Peace Corps Volunteer in China. [7]

Controversy

Dr. Young's reputation in Taiwan became controversial after many of his reports were revealed by WikiLeaks. He was described as an 'Ugly American' and an 'Ugly Diplomat' by Dr. James Soong, the president of People First Party (PFP) of Taiwan, after Dr. Soong learned that he had been described as a 'wily' person in Dr. Young's reports. [8][9]

In comments published in the pro-Beijing and Communist Party paper Wen Wei Po, Lew Mon-hung, a Hong Konger member of the National Committee of CPPCC, has criticized Dr Young, stating that Dr.g Young had covertly instigated and planned the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement, which Lew compared to the Taiwan Independence Movement, as Young was the then Consulate General of the United States in Hong Kong, in an attempt to split Hong Kong away from China.[10]

References

  1. ↑ New U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong to take office CCTV 2010-02-25
  2. ↑ U.S. Names Stephen Young as New Consul General for Hong Kong February 25, 2010. Frederik Balfour. Bloomberg
  3. 1 2 Announcement of Stephen M. Young as New Consul General of the United States of America in Hong Kong Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ http://www.allgov.com/Official/Young__Stephen
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  6. ↑ U.S. Consul General Young Statement upon Arrival in Hong Kong March 12, 2010
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  8. ↑ 被杨苏棣抨击“狡诈” 宋楚瑜回批：丑陋美国人
  9. ↑ PFP chair calls former AIT director 'ugly American'
  10. ↑ 文匯報 - 劉夢熊 - 指點江山：楊甦棣策動「香港自治運動」包藏禍心 Archived 2015-09-20 at the Wayback Machine.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
John Martin O'Keefe		 United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan
2003–2005		 Succeeded by
Marie L. Yovanovitch
Preceded by
Douglas H. Paal 		Director of the American Institute in Taiwan
2006–2009		 Succeeded by
William A. Stanton
Preceded by
Christopher J. Marut (interim)		 United States Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau
2010–2013		 Succeeded by
Clifford Hart
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.