Jurisdiction Spain | Headquarters Madrid, Spain | |
Formed 1973 (as Centro Sun Yat-sen) Agency executive Simon Ko, Representative Website Oficina Económica y Cultural de Taipei en España | ||
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Spain; (Chinese: 駐西班牙台北代表處; pinyin: Zhù Xībānyá Dàibiǎo Chù) (Spanish: Oficina Económica y Cultural de Taipei en España) represents the interests of Taiwan in Spain in the absence of formal diplomatic relations, functioning as a de facto embassy. Its counterpart in Taiwan is the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.
Contents
The Office is headed by a Representative, currently Simon Ko.
History
The Office was established as the Centro Sun Yat-sen in 1973. Previously, Spain recognised Taiwan as the Republic of China, which was represented by an Embassy in Madrid. There were close relations between the governments of Francisco Franco and Chiang Kai-shek, both of which were anti-communist. However, diplomatic relations were severed in 1973 when Spain recognised the People's Republic of China.