Agency overview | |||||||
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Formed | 1937 (as ROC Consulate) 1992 (current form) | ||||||
Jurisdiction | United States (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma) | ||||||
Headquarters | Houston | ||||||
Agency executive |
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Website | Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston | ||||||
Footnotes | |||||||
Chinese name | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 駐休士頓臺北經濟文化辦事處 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 驻休士顿台北经济文化办事处 | ||||||
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Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston (TECO-Houston,
Chinese: 駐休士頓台北經濟文化辦事處) represents the interests of
Taiwan in the southern
United States, functioning as a
de facto
consulate.
[2] The mission is located on the 20th Floor of
11 Greenway Plaza. It also oversees a Cultural Center at 10303 West Office Drive in the
Westchase district of Houston.
[3]
[4]
TECO Houston's origins can be traced to 1937 when the government of the Republic of China established a consulate in Houston. [5] The ROC was represented by a vice-consul. [6] After opening the consulate of the People's Republic of China in 1979, the TECO mission opened its doors in 1992.
The mission serves Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. [7]
The office sponsors cultural exhibits such as the 2009 "Nation of Splendor: Taiwan, the Republic of China," which was hosted at 2 Allen Center in Downtown Houston. [8] The mission also sponsors the Hou, Hsiao-Hsien Film Festival in San Antonio along with the Trinity University East Program. [9]
After members of a Taiwanese religious movement in Garland, Texas, did not find God on television on a day in March 1998, an officer of TECO Houston offered assistance to members of the movement to assist travel back to Taiwan. [10] On September 23, 2002, an e-mail relayed through TECO Houston warned the ROC government that there was a possibility of a terrorist attack. [11] In 2005 Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana Mitch Landrieu and Kip Holden, Mayor-President of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, met with a delegation of TECO Houston officials to negotiate Taiwanese business interests in Louisiana. [12]