Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong 臺北經濟文化辦事處 | |
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Location | Wan Chai, Hong Kong |
Address | Suite 4907, 49/F, Central Plaza, 18 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong |
Coordinates | 22°16′48″N114°10′25″E / 22.28000°N 114.17361°E |
Ambassador | Vacant |
Jurisdiction | Hong Kong and Pakistan |
Website | Official website (in Chinese) |
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong | |||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 臺北經濟文化辦事處 | ||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 台北经济文化办事处 | ||||||||||||
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Chung Hwa Travel Service | |||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 中華旅行社 | ||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 中华旅行社 | ||||||||||||
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The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong (TECO) is the representative office of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Hong Kong. [1] Its counterpart body in Taiwan is the Hong Kong Economic,Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan.
The de facto diplomatic mission is placed administratively under the Mainland Affairs Council,Executive Yuan,but it also houses departments that serve as outposts of the National Immigration Agency and the Bureau of Consular Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). [2] [3]
Its cultural arm,known as Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Centre,is an overseas agency of the Ministry of Culture. [4]
The General Manager of TECO is also the Director of the Bureau of Hong Kong Affairs in the Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan. The founding director of the office was Susie Chiang Su-hui. [5]
Previously located at Tower 1,Lippo Centre in Admiralty,the office has been relocated to Central Plaza in Wan Chai since December 2021. [6]
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong,initially known as Chung Hwa Travel Service (Chinese :中華旅行社),was first established in Hong Kong in 1966 during British rule. [7] This operated under quasi-diplomatic arrangements unilaterally extended by the British authorities. [8]
Previously,while the National Government of the Republic of China in Nanjing had negotiated with the British regarding the appointment of a Consul-General in 1945,it decided against such an appointment,with its representative in the colony,T W Kwok (Kuo Teh-hua) instead being styled Special Commissioner for Hong Kong. [9] This was in addition to his role as Special Commissioner for Guangdong and Guangxi. [10]
Disagreements also arose with the British authorities,with the Governor,Alexander Grantham,opposing an office building for the "Commissioner for Foreign Affairs of the Provinces of Kwantung and Kuangsi" being erected on the site of the Walled City in Kowloon. [11]
In 1950,following British recognition of the People's Republic of China,the office of the Special Commissioner was closed and Kwok withdrawn. [12]
Following the transfer of sovereignty to the People's Republic of China in 1997,the Service continued to operate,despite not having been officially registered with the Hong Kong SAR Government. [8] However,in 2000,Beijing set out the conditions under which the Chung Hwa Travel Service could operate in Hong Kong,although the Mainland Affairs Council refused to detail them. [13]
In 2004,the newly appointed managing director of the Service faced a five-month delay before received approval to enter Hong Kong and assume his post. [14] Similarly,other Taiwan government officials faced difficulties in obtaining visas to visit Hong Kong. [15]
In 2009,the Service opened a visa office at Hong Kong International Airport,thereby allowing mainland visitors to Taiwan to collect their visas at the airport instead of having to travel to the office in Admiralty. [16]
On 20 July 2011,in a ceremony presided over by Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan,it was renamed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. [17] This brought it into line with most other representative offices around the world,which already had "Taipei" in their titles. [18] The renaming was considered a milestone in the improved cross-strait relations between Taipei and Beijing. [17]
On 20 June 2021,Taiwan recalled its staff working at the office after the Government of Hong Kong demanded them to sign a document supporting the 1992 Consensus. Only local staff remained to maintain operations. [19]
On 20 December 2021,the entire office completed relocation from Lippo Centre in Admiralty to the Central Plaza in Wan Chai. [20]
The office is accessible within walking distance north from Wan Chai Station of the Hong Kong MTR.
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.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), also known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Taipei Representative Office (TRO) or Taipei Mission, is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a de facto embassy or a consulate of the Republic of China to exercise the foreign affairs and consular services in specific countries which have established formal diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. As the PRC denies the legitimacy of the ROC as a sovereign state and claims the ROC-controlled territories as an integral part of its China. An exclusive mandate namely One-China policy, mandates any country that wishes to establish a diplomatic relationship with the PRC must first sever any formal relationship with the ROC. According to The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, "non-recognition of the Taiwanese government is a prerequisite for conducting formal diplomatic relations with the PRC—in effect forcing other governments to choose between Beijing and Taipei." As a result, these countries only allow the ROC to establish representative offices instead of a fully-fledged embassy or consulate for the purpose of conducting practical bilateral relations without granting full diplomatic recognition.
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The Republic of China (Taiwan) passport is the passport issued to nationals of the Republic of China. The ROC passport is also generally referred to as a Taiwanese passport. As of September 2020, approximately 60.87 percent of Taiwanese citizens possess a valid passport.
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There are 123 diplomatic missions in Hong Kong, of which 62 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.
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The Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office is the representative office of Hong Kong in the Republic of China. Its counterpart body in Hong Kong is the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong.
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