| Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong 臺北經濟文化辦事處 | |
|---|---|
 Central Plaza in April 2003 | |
 | |
| Location | Wan Chai,Hong Kong |
| Address | Suite 4907, 49/F,Central Plaza, 18Harbour Road,Wan Chai,Hong Kong |
| Coordinates | 22°16′48″N114°10′25″E / 22.28000°N 114.17361°E /22.28000; 114.17361 |
| Ambassador | Vacant |
| Jurisdiction | Hong Kong |
| Website | Official website(in Chinese) |
| Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 臺北經濟文化辦事處 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 台北经济文化办事处 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Chung Hwa Travel Service | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 中華旅行社 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中华旅行社 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
TheTaipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong (TECO) is therepresentative office of theRepublic of China (Taiwan) inHong Kong.[1] Its counterpart inTaiwan is theHong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office in Taiwan.
The de facto diplomatic mission is administratively under theMainland Affairs Council,Executive Yuan. Still, it also houses departments that serve as outposts of theNational Immigration Agency and theBureau of Consular Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).[2][3]
Its cultural arm, Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Centre, is an overseas agency of theMinistry of Culture.[4]
The General Manager of TECO is also the Director of the Bureau of Hong Kong Affairs in theMainland Affairs Council of theExecutive Yuan. The founding director of the office wasSusie Chiang Su-hui.[5]
Previously located at Tower 1,Lippo Centre inAdmiralty, the office has been relocated toCentral Plaza inWan Chai since December 2021.[6]
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong, initially known asChung Hwa Travel Service (Chinese:中華旅行社), was first established in Hong Kong in 1966 duringBritish rule.[7] This operated under quasi-diplomatic arrangements unilaterally extended by the British authorities.[8]
Previously, while theNational Government of theRepublic of China inNanjing 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 styledSpecial Commissioner for Hong Kong.[9] This was in addition to his role as Special Commissioner forGuangdong andGuangxi.[10]
Disagreements also arose with the British authorities, with theGovernor,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 theWalled City inKowloon.[11]
In 1950, following British recognition of thePeople's Republic of China, the office of the Special Commissioner was closed, and Kwok withdrew.[12]
Following thetransfer of sovereignty to thePeople's Republic of China in 1997, the Service continued to operate, despite not having been officially registered with theHong 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 theMainland Affairs Council refused to detail them.[13]
In 2004, the newly appointed managing director of the Service faced a five-month delay before receiving approval to enter Hong Kong and assume his post.[14] Similarly, other Taiwan government officials faced difficulties obtaining visas to visit Hong Kong.[15]
In 2009, the Service opened a visa office atHong Kong International Airport, allowing mainland visitors to Taiwan to collect their visas at the airport instead of travelling to the office inAdmiralty.[16]
On 20 July 2011, in a ceremony presided over byMainland Affairs Council ChairwomanLai Shin-yuan, it was renamed theTaipei Economic and Cultural Office.[17] This brought it into line with most otherrepresentative offices worldwide, which already had "Taipei" in their titles.[18] The renaming was considered a milestone in the improvedcross-strait relations betweenTaipei andBeijing.[17]
On 20 June 2021, Taiwan recalled its staff working at the office after the Government of Hong Kong demanded that they sign a document supporting the 1992 Consensus. Only local staff remained to maintain operations.[19]
On 20 December 2021, the entire office completed relocation fromLippo Centre inAdmiralty toCentral Plaza inWan Chai.[20]
The office is accessible within walking distance north ofWan Chai Station of theHong Kong MTR.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
| Africa | |
|---|---|
| Americas | |
| Asia | |
| Europe | |
| Oceania | |
| International Organizations | |
| Former | |
| Asia | |
|---|---|
| Europe | |
| Americas | |
| Oceania | |
| Africa |
|
| Historical | |
1 Consuls general that report directly to their respectiveforeign ministries instead of their respective Beijing Embassy 2 They are classified ashonorary consulates | |
