Taiwan is preparing to launch its new representative office in Guam on October 10, the Double Ten National Day, following three years of being absent from the United States territory.
The office, named the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Guam, will be housed at the International Trade centre (ITC), where other tenants include the consulates of Japan, the Philippines, and Palau, CNA reported. Taiwan’s new representative, Paul Chen, arrived in Guam on September 23 and has since been supervising the office’s interior decoration work while also holding videoconference meetings with prominent local officials, such as Governor Lou Leon Guerrero and Lieutenant Governor Josh Tenorio.
The planned October 10 opening ceremony will be modest, since Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions do not allow gatherings of more than 10 people on the island, Chen said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is sending two other diplomats to join him at the office, with Chen denying reports that the Ministry of National Defense was interested in posting its own staff in Guam due to the island’s hosting of US military bases.
Before the pandemic hit, an estimated 30,000 Taiwanese visited Guam each year, while 3,000 live there permanently. Several Taiwanese corporations have investments on the island and close ties exist between hospitals from both sides, Chen said.
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Category: Taiwan
