A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that the government is planning to open a representative in Montreal, Canada, in the first half of next year.
Preparations for Taiwan’s fourth representative office in Canada are under way, Department of North American Affairs Director-General Douglas Hsu (徐佑典) said.
Taiwan’s main representative office is in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, with branch offices in Toronto and Vancouver.
Photo: AP
“We hope we can see a positive development on the project in the first half of next year,” Hsu told reporters during a news conference.
The ministry first announced the office on Tuesday, but did not say when it would open.
A source familiar with the matter yesterday said that the ministry has identified four potential sites an office Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city.
The office — to be named the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Montreal — is to employ about 10 staff, similar to the branch offices in Toronto and Vancouver, the source said.
Canada’s swift approval of the Montreal office is part of the greater attention that Ottawa is giving to Taiwan as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, released last month, the source said.
The Canadian strategy document refers to Taiwan multiple times, including working with Indo-Pacific partners to push back against any unilateral actions threatening the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China seas.
Montreal, the largest city in the French-speaking province of Quebec, is known as a technology hub, notably in video game and artificial intelligence development. The city is also home to the International Civil Aviation Organization headquarters.
Taiwan has 111 overseas representative offices, including embassies and consulates in the 14 countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei.
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