Exclusive | US State Department to name Gregory May as consul general for Hong Kong, sources say
- Appointment of long-time China hand, the US consul general for Shenyang from 2016 to 2019, is said to avoid adding tension between Washington and Beijing
- He will succeed Hanscom Smith, who left in July warning that Beijing “can’t have it both ways” in Hong Kong
US State Department China hand Gregory May will be named US consul general for Hong Kong and Macau, the South China Morning Post has learned from two sources.
May, the US consul general in Shenyang from 2016 to 2019, is awaiting “final procedures” to be cleared to start his new role as Washington’s top diplomat in Hong Kong, according to a source with knowledge of the arrangement.
Recently returned to the US after serving as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Mongolia since 2019, May has also served in the US Consulate General in Guangzhou and the US embassy in Beijing, according to his official profile on the State Department website.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request to confirm May’s appointment.
May, a Texas native, was also a journalist based in Taiwan from 1993 to 1996, and was assistant director and research associate in Chinese studies at the Washington think tank Centre for the National Interest, then called the Nixon Centre, before going into foreign service in 2000.