Taiwan will reopen Guam office, a sign of stronger ties with the US in the face of tension with China
- US island territory is strategically important in the Pacific and will position Taiwan officials near its key remaining allies in the region
- The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office will allow Taiwan to promote economic programmes and serve its firms and travellers
Taiwan will soon reopen its de facto consulate in Guam, bringing its total representative offices in the United States to 13, as the two parties forge stronger ties amid rising tensions with Beijing.
In a statement on Friday morning, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it had consulted the US and was in the process of reopening its Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Guam, a US island territory, after operations were suspended in 2017 in a reallocation of the ministry’s budget and staff.
“Re-establishing the Taipei office in Guam can strengthen our country’s overall economic and trade exchanges and cooperative relations with the Western Pacific region, helping to deepen our country’s engagement with our allies in the Pacific, and enhance multilateral interaction,” the ministry said.
Guam is strategically important in the Pacific as the site of a large US military base and located near Taiwan’s key remaining allies in the region – the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu.
Washington has been vocal in condemning Beijing for encircling Taiwan’s space in the international arena, which has cost Taiwan six diplomatic allies in the past four years, including Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.
Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its own territory and has not renounced the use of force to bring it under its rule.
Taiwan closed its representative office in Guam in July 2017, along with its offices in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah and in Norway. But the upgraded importance of Taiwan’s strategic relations with the US and a greater foreign ministry budget led to the decision to resume its Guam office, the ministry said.
