Stephen M. Young (diplomat)

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. 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. Ambassador Young was U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic from 2003 to 2005.

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.

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.

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.

As the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong, he also oversees Macau – United States relations.

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.

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.

Member of the National Committee of CPPCC Lew Mon-hung compared the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement to the Taiwan Independence Movement, and believes that the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement is covertly instigated and planned by Dr. Young, who was the then Consulate General of the United States in Hong Kong, in an attempt to split Hong Kong away from China.