Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), sometimes known as a Taipei Representative Office, is a representative office , established by the Republic of China on Taiwan, in countries that have diplomatic relations, with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the terms of the One China Policy, such countries may not have diplomatic relations with the ROC.

These establishments use the term "Taipei" instead of "Taiwan" or "ROC" since the term "Taipei" avoids implying that Taiwan is a different country or that there are "Two Chinas", the PRC and the ROC, both of which would cause difficulties for their host countries.

Taipei Representative Office, London

TECROs state that their aim is "to promote bilateral trade, investment, culture, science and technology exchanges and cooperation, as well as better understanding", although they preform many of the same functions as a normal embassy or consulate general, like issuing visas and passports.

However, TECROs do not enjoy many diplomatic privileges such as extraterritoriality, cannot provide any consular protection and their staffs do not have any diplomatic immunity. Offices from other countries, such as the American Institute in Taiwan or the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, are similarly established in Taiwan.

1 TECRO in the United States
- 1.1 U.S. TECRO Representatives
2 See also
3 External links

[edit] TECRO in the United States

Originally called the Coordination Council for North American Affairs (CCNAA). As a result of the Clinton Administration's Taiwan Policy Review of 1994, the name of the CCNAA office in Washington, D.C. [the "embassy"] was changed to "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office" (TECRO), and the names of the 12 other CCNAA offices ["consulates"] in the United States were changed to "Taipei Economic and Cultural Office" (TECO).[1]