The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam (; ) is the representative office of Taiwan in Vietnam, which functions as a de facto embassy in the absence of diplomatic relations. It also has responsibility for Laos.
Its counterpart body in Taiwan is the Vietnam Economic and Culture Office in Taipei.Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office
There is also a Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City,Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Ho Chi Minh City which has responsibility for relations with the southern regions of Vietnam as well as Cambodia.Asia Pacific Area, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Republic of China)
History The Hanoi office, along with its counterpart in Ho Chi Minh City, was established in June 1992.Foreign Policy of the New Taiwan: Pragmatic Diplomacy in Southeast Asia, Jie Chen, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2002, page 81 This followed visits to Vietnam by the Sino-Vietnamese Industrial and Commercial Association (SVICA) and Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in 1991.The Vietnamese Economy and Its Transformation to an Open Market System, William T. Alpert M.E. Sharpe, 2005, page 188
Until 1975, Taiwan, as the Republic of China, had an embassy in Saigon.Maoists kill Chinese publisher in Saigon, Current Issue, December 5, 1971 However, the embassy suspended operations after the defeat of South Vietnam by the Communist North, which has diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.The Republic Of China Yearbook 1996, David Robertson, Taylor & Francis, 1996, page 652
In February 2014, a former Secretary of the Office was investigated by police for reportedly cooperating to take bribes to illegally grant visas to Vietnamese students two years earlier.Taiwanese investigated for allegedly ‘selling’ visas to Vietnamese students, Tuoi Tre, February 13, 2014
See also Taiwan–Vietnam relations List of diplomatic missions of Taiwan List of diplomatic missions in Vietnam Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office
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