Relationship dossier
Hong Kong
Taiwan
Relationship assessment
Practical exchanges coexist with a sharp decline in official engagement.
Hong Kong toward Taiwan
-20Hong Kong maintained a representative office in Taiwan before suspending its operations in 2021, marking a substantial setback in official engagement. Hong Kong’s foreign-policy position is governed by the central Chinese government.
Taiwan toward Hong Kong
+25Taiwan established the Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchange Office in 2020 to assist Hong Kong residents, while maintaining its representative office in Hong Kong. These steps provided concrete channels for engagement and support.
Overall relationship
+5The relationship has included representative offices and practical exchanges, alongside deep political constraints. The suspension of Hong Kong’s Taiwan office in 2021 weakened official engagement, while Taiwan’s service office for Hong Kong residents preserved a practical channel. Hong Kong’s lack of an independent foreign policy is a central feature of the relationship.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China and does not conduct an independent foreign policy. Hong Kong and Taiwan maintained representative offices and practical exchanges, but official engagement deteriorated: Hong Kong suspended its Taiwan office in 2021. Taiwan, meanwhile, established a service office in 2020 to assist Hong Kong residents and continued operating its representative office in Hong Kong.
Areas of tension
- Hong Kong’s suspension of its representative office in Taiwan in 2021.
- Disagreements over political conditions and the scope of official engagement.
Key developments
Hong Kong and Taiwan established representative offices that supported practical exchanges.
Taiwan established the Taiwan-Hong Kong Services and Exchange Office to assist Hong Kong residents.
Hong Kong suspended operations of its representative office in Taiwan.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of remaining practical cooperation are unclear.
- The long-term status of representative offices and exchanges is uncertain.