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'Fort Santo Domingo, Tamsui, Formosa (Taiwan): decommissioning as British consulate'.
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02 October 2008
Far Eastern Group
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
WH2.301 King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
E-mail: [email address]
By e-mail: [FOI #1340 email]
Dear Dr Kaihsu Tai
Freedom Of Information Request 0604-08
I am writing to confirm that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has now completed its search for the information which you requested on 22 July 2008.
Your request stated:
Could you please provide any correspondence, dating from 1970 to 1984, relating to the decommissioning of the estate of Fort Santo Domingo, Tamsui, Formosa (Taiwan) as a British Consulate.
In particular, I am requesting correspondence on this matter:
Between your Office and the governments of Australia and of the United States of America.
Between your Office and the authorities with claim of jurisdiction over Taiwan at that time.
Between your Office and the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan.
I can confirm the FCO does hold information relevant to your request. The information is in the form of paper hard copies - could you please provide us with your postal address so that they may be sent to you.
We understood your request relates to correspondence on the decommissioning of the estate property, and have therefore chosen material which relates to this. We have redacted information which is not relevant to this request.
Some information has been withheld under section 27(1) (c) of the Act - the interests of the United Kingdom abroad. This exemption requires the application of a public interest test. The effective conduct of international relations depends upon maintaining trust and confidence between Administrations. If the United Kingdom does not maintain this trust and confidence, its ability to protect and promote UK interests through international relations will be hampered.
There is a public interest in transparent and open government, and releasing information that would inform public debate on foreign policy issues. However, we have to balance this with the need for strong trust and co-operation from the countries on a range of issues on the UK's foreign policy agenda. This relationship of trust allows for the free and frank exchange of information on the understanding that it will be treated in confidence. If the United Kingdom does not respect such confidences, its ability to protect and promote UK interests through international relations will be hampered. Other Governments may be more reluctant to share sensitive information with the UK Government in future and may be less likely to respect confidentiality of information supplied by the UK Government to them, to the detriment of UK interests. For these reasons, we consider that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in its disclosure.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most documents supplied by the FCO will have been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on the Office of Public Sector Information website at:
Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright) information.
In keeping with the spirit and effect of the Freedom of Information Act, all information is assumed to be releasable to the public unless exempt. The information supplied to you may now be published on our website together with any related information that will provide a key to its wider context.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to me.
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
Generally, the Information Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the FCO. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Kind Regards,
Patrick Hopkins
Far Eastern Group
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Foreign &
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