De facto embassy

A de facto embassy is an office or organisation that serves de facto as an embassy in lack of regular/official diplomatic relations among countries (thus paradiplomacy). Diplomatic immunity and extraterritoriality are usually not granted.^{[citation needed]}

In many cases, these organisations represent nations which lack full diplomatic recognition or regions with disputed borders. For instance, many countries maintain formal diplomatic relations with the PRC but operate unofficial 'trade missions' or 'representative offices' in Taipei to deal with Taiwan-related commercial and consular issues. Often, these delegations may forward visa applications to their nearest embassy or consulate rather than processing them locally.^{[citation needed]}

France maintains a "French Institute" in Taipei, whose first apparent purpose is "cultural," but which also has consular and economic sections,^[1] as does the United Kingdom's British Trade and Cultural Office.^[2] Similarly, Taiwan (ROC) maintains Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices or Taipei Representative Offices in other countries, which handle visa applications as well as relations with local authorities.^{[citation needed]}

In some cases, nations which have no direct bilateral ties will be represented by an "interests section" housed as part of the embassy of a third-country recognised by both; for instance, the United States of America is nominally represented by the Swiss embassy in both Iran and Cuba, with the corresponding delegations to the US housed as part of recognised Swiss or Pakistani diplomatic missions.^{[citation needed]}

In the British Commonwealth of Nations, a High Commission is an embassy in all but name, but is formally titled to reflect a less-than-foreign status insofar that (for instance) the Queen of Australia in her rôle as head of state of the Commonwealth of Australia has no need to be represented diplomatically to the Queen of Canada as both are indeed the same person. While representing a head of government instead of a head of state, a High Commissioner within the British Empire and Commonwealth dominions has the full rank and all privileges of an accredited ambassador.^{[citation needed]}

The Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been called "the de facto embassy of the exiled government in Taiwan" by Taipei Times chief staff reporter Loa lok sin.^[3]

List

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Country	Mission	Status
Canada ⇒  Taiwan	Canadian Trade Office* (CTOT), Kaohsiung, Republic of China, established 1986	Foreign relations of the Republic of China
Cuba ⇒  USA	Cuban Interests Section* of the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C.	Cuba – United States relations
France ⇒  Taiwan	French Institute in Taipei	Foreign relations of the Republic of China
India ⇒  Taiwan	India-Taipei Association[4]	India–Republic of China relations
Iran ⇒  USA	Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran* at the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington.	Iran – United States relations
Japan ⇒  Taiwan	Interchange Association (財団法人交流協会) serves as the representative office.	Republic of China – Japan relations
North Korea ⇒  Japan	General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, North Korea's de facto embassy in Japan	Japan–Korea relations
Northern Cyprus ⇒  USA	TRNC Representative Office to the US*	Foreign relations of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ⇒  UN	TRNC Representative Office in New York*	Foreign relations of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ⇒ various nations	Multiple missions of Northern Cyprus*	Foreign relations of Northern Cyprus
Palestine ⇒ various nations	Palestine general delegation, special delegation or mission*	Foreign relations of Palestine
PRC ⇒  Taiwan	Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits	Sino-Pacific relations
SADR ⇒ various nations	Missions of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Foreign relations of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Taiwan ⇒  PRC	Straits Exchange Foundation	Foreign relations of the Republic of China
Taiwan ⇒ various nations with diplomatic ties to  PRC	Taipei Representative Office*	Foreign relations of the Republic of China
United Kingdom ⇒  Taiwan	British Trade and Cultural Office*	Foreign relations of the Republic of China
USA ⇒  Cuba	United States Interests Section of the Embassy of Switzerland* in Havana, Cuba (USINT Havana)	Cuba – United States relations
USA ⇒  Iran	US Interests Section of the Embassy of Switzerland* in Iran	Iran – United States relations
USA ⇒  Taiwan	American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), established 1979, a non-profit private corporation	Republic of China – United States relations

_{Key:*: Government organization; flag positioned left: country of origin ("sending"); flag positioned right: location}

See also

• Diplomatic mission and lists of diplomatic missions
• High Commissioner (Commonwealth)
• Protecting power
• Provincial delegation (paradiplomacy)
• Representative office
• Délégation Générale du Québec
• Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat
• Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

References

1. ^ La France à Taiwan
2. ^ British Trade & Cultural Office
3. ^ Loa Iok-sin, Tibetans confirm WikiLeak, Taipei Times, 25 décembre 2010
4. ^ India-Taipei Association