Taiwan to Establish De Facto Consulate Office in Montreal

A file photo of Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu speaking during an interview with The Associated Press at his ministry in Taipei, Taiwan, on Dec. 10, 2019. (Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo)

The Taiwanese government is set to establish a de facto consulate in Montreal, Quebec, to promote bilateral exchanges, a move that came after Ottawa pledged to deepen ties with the island in its newly-released Indo-Pacific Strategy.

Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), made the announcement in a Dec. 20 news release, saying that the preparations to install the office are “currently underway.”

“The government of Canada recently announced a comprehensive strategic report resolving to deepen diversified relationships with partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Canada particularly aims to enhance economic and people-to-people ties with Taiwan and further develop the bilateral partnership in science, technology, and innovation,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in the release.

“Taiwan’s establishment of a new office in Montreal will lend impetus to further cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.”

In Canada, Taiwan is currently operating three representative offices, known as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices (TECOs). The de facto embassy is in Ottawa, another office is in Toronto, and another in Vancouver.

Taiwan’s MOFA noted on its Facebook account that the new office in Montreal will work with existing offices in Canada “towards enhanced cooperation and to uphold the prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.”

Indo-Pacific Strategy

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, introduced by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly in November, made multiple references to Taiwan, including denouncing the security challenges imposed upon it by Beijing.

In engagements with Taiwan, Canada and other Western countries have often met with obstruction from Beijing, which has made repeated territorial claims over the self-ruled democracy. Beijing has viewed Taiwan as a “renegade province” since the ROC government retreated to the island in 1949 after suffering defeat against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Chinese Civil War.

In a “white paper” on the issue of Taiwan published in August, the CCP removed a vow that it would “not send troops or administrative personnel to be based in Taiwan.”

In Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, which has labelled China as an “increasingly disruptive global power,” Ottawa vowed to “work with partners to push back against any unilateral actions that threaten the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.” It also said Canada would address security concerns posed by Beijing’s presence in the East and South China Seas.

Taiwan’s MOFA said in an earlier news release that it “welcomed” Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, saying it especially values “the importance [that the strategy] placed on enhancing cooperation with Taiwan and maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to Global Affairs Canada for comment on whether Beijing has pushed back against Taiwan’s new consulate office in Montreal, but didn’t hear back immediately.