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 factoconsulate.[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]
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 LouisianaMitch 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]
^Mowbray, Rebecca. "Banking on loyalty / Taiwan offers loan guarantees to ethnic Chinese across globe." Houston Chronicle. Sunday August 6, 2000. Business 1. Retrieved on May 10, 2009. ""If they get the money from Taiwan, they are more likely to do business with Taiwanese people," said Andrew Lin, commercial attache at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, one of 13 de facto consulates around the United States."
