List of diplomatic missions of Taiwan

Map of countries and territories with Taiwanese diplomatic missions
  Republic of China (Taiwan)
  Has formal embassy
  Has unofficial representative missions
  Formerly had unofficial missions

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, has 112 diplomatic missions across the world as of January 2024.[a] Due to the One-China policy held by the People's Republic of China on the Chinese mainland, other states are only allowed to maintain relations with one of the two countries.[2] As most countries have changed their recognition to the latter over time, only 13 of Taiwan's diplomatic missions have official status, consisting of twelve embassies and one consulate-general.[1] This makes Taiwan one of the few countries in the world that has resident embassies in all of the states with which it has formal diplomatic relations.[3]

Despite these barriers, 59 United Nations members maintain relations with Taiwan on an unofficial basis.[3] In addition, Taiwan has informal relations with Somaliland, a state that is not internationally recognized by any other country, including China.[4][5] To serve these locations and other places throughout the world, 92 semi-official representative offices are utilized for matters that would otherwise be handled by embassies or consulates. Their heads are still appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, making them de facto missions.[6] Owing to pressure from the People's Republic, most of these offices cannot operate under either the country's official or common name, using the name of the capital Taipei instead to avoid addressing Taiwan's political status.[7] There have recently been two notable exceptions to this; the offices in Somaliland (opened 2020) and Lithuania (2021) use "Taiwan" in their names.[8][9][6][10][11] Taiwan also maintains permanent missions to the European Union and the World Trade Organization, with the latter under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kimmen and Matsu".[12]

Taiwan has also established informal representation in China's two Special Administrative Regions. In Hong Kong, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong provides services similar to a consulate,[13][14] while relations to Macau are handled by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Macau.[15] In addition, under a mechanism established in 2010, the Taiwanese government is directly represented in negotiations with its Hong Kong counterpart by the Taiwan–Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council (ECCC), with the latter operating a similar office in reciprocation.[16] Taiwan also maintains unofficial diplomatic exchanges with China using the Straits Exchange Foundation, but the organization does not have a physical presence in the mainland as of 2020.[17]

  1. ^ a b "Key Findings – 2024 Global Diplomacy Index". Lowy Institute. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  2. ^ "What is the 'One China' policy?". BBC News. 10 February 2017. Archived from the original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b Shattuck, Thomas J. (2020). "The Race to Zero?: China's Poaching of Taiwan's Diplomatic Allies". Orbis. 64 (2): 334–352. doi:10.1016/j.orbis.2020.02.003. ISSN 0030-4387. PMC 7102519. PMID 32292214.
  4. ^ Aspinwall, Nick (10 July 2020). "Taiwan Throws a Diplomatic Curveball by Establishing Ties With Somaliland". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 8 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. ^ Zhang, Adrianna (6 July 2020). "Taiwan-China Diplomatic Competition Comes to Somaliland". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  6. ^ a b Lim, Emerson (18 August 2020). "Name of Taiwan's office in Somaliland significant: MOFA". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Why isn't 'Taiwan' in the name of most Taipei missions?". South China Morning Post. 14 August 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Taipei Trade Office in Fiji renamed - Taipei Times". 29 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Taiwan gets back 'Republic of China' office name from Fiji: MOFA - Focus Taiwan". 28 March 2023.
  10. ^ Shattuck, Thomas J. (28 August 2020). "China-Taiwan Competition over Somaliland and Implications for Small Countries". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lithuania was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Charnovitz, Steve (2006). "Taiwan's WTO Membership and its International Implication". Asian Journal of WTO & International Health Law and Policy. 1 (2). Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  13. ^ Lau, Chris; Cheung, Gary (17 July 2020). "Three in Taiwan's Hong Kong office forced out over 'one-China' declaration". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Moura, Nelson (24 September 2020). "Rising Beijing-Taipei tensions also taking a toll in Macau-Taipei relations". Macau News Agency. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Different era and mood for 'little dragons' talks". South China Morning Post. 20 April 2010. Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  17. ^ Tiezzi, Shannon (12 February 2014). "Taiwan, Mainland China Agree to New Communication Mechanism". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 6 September 2020.


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