Two Visits, No Answer: Documenting an Eighteen-Month Silence
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Public Record · Updated June 30, 2026
Two Visits, No Answer: Documenting an Eighteen-Month Silence
A record of two in-person visits to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, and what eighteen months of formal silence looks like in practice.
【Notice】 This page documents direct, in-person correspondence with Taiwan's consular offices in Toronto and Montreal regarding an ongoing fair-trial case. Full supporting correspondence is available for download below.
On June 29 and June 30, 2026, I visited the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto in person, seeking nothing more than a written acknowledgment that my case — and the documentation supporting it — had been received. I was not asking for a ruling, a favour, or a promise. I was asking for a single piece of paper.
I left without one.
Staff confirmed that my case is not within Toronto's jurisdiction at all. Following Taiwan's 2023 realignment of its Canadian consular offices, New Brunswick — my home province, and the address on every piece of correspondence I have sent for the past eighteen months — now falls under TECO Montreal. I have since redirected my request there in writing.
It's worth noting that Taiwan does maintain a central office for Canada, in Ottawa. But a Canadian citizen with a case spanning eighteen months, three court instances, and now a parliamentary subcommittee has been unable to get a single written acknowledgment from any of the offices that are supposed to serve someone in exactly my position. The existence of a head office doesn't mean a person can actually reach it, or be reached by it.
Jurisdiction Doesn't Explain This
Consular jurisdiction typically follows an applicant's place of residence, and Taiwan's offices in Canada are no exception — that much is a normal and unremarkable rule, one Canada's own missions abroad use as well. It explains, accurately, why my file is now Montreal's to process rather than Toronto's.
What it does not explain is why an office cannot perform the one-second act of confirming, in writing, that a person stood in front of their desk. Jurisdiction determines who is responsible for deciding a matter. It does not excuse an office from acknowledging that a human being, and a documented case, showed up. A tourist from Taipei visiting Vancouver is still Taiwanese wherever they stand in Canada; a Canadian holding permanent residency in Taiwan is still that person wherever they stand in Taiwan. The rule about where a file is processed was never meant to justify refusing the far smaller, far more basic courtesy of confirming that someone was present.
That is the part of this that has no defensible answer. Not jurisdiction. Not procedure. Just an unwillingness to put four words on paper: "received, June 30, 2026."
This is not a complaint about any individual member of staff. It is a record of what eighteen months of formal silence actually looks like in practice: a government that will not put anything in writing, even an acknowledgment that a person and a case exist.
Why I Haven't Stopped
People ask, in different ways, why I keep going instead of accepting this and moving on. I want to answer that honestly.
The first time I set foot in Taiwan, I was eighteen years old, with no family there and no connections — just the sense, even then, that this was a place I could belong. I later immigrated for good, and built an independent business there from nothing, as a foreign investor with no local family ties, working through a system that isn't built for outsiders. I paid Taiwan's taxes. I believed in the country enough to say so publicly, including selling shirts that simply stated Taiwan is not part of China — because I meant it, and because I loved the place enough to say it out loud. I helped raise a boy — my godson — from the day he was born.
You do not give up on a country you built your adult life around. You do not give up on a child you raised. I don't believe anyone would, and I don't think anyone should be expected to. This is not the Taiwan I immigrated to — and I refuse to accept that it has to stay this way.
The Record So Far
For context: on March 27, 2026, Global Affairs Canada formally closed my consular file without naming a single recourse mechanism. Taiwan's Control Yuan closed its own review on June 5, 2026, on the grounds that domestic remedies are exhausted. Taiwan's own 4th ICCPR Review, published this spring under the chairmanship of Manfred Nowak, raised concerns in paragraphs 115 and 127 about judicial independence and the proportionality of travel restrictions — concerns that sit at the center of my case. And as of June 23, 2026, the case has been formally received by Canada's House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights.
Audio from both Toronto visits is available below, with no identifying visual information included. It documents two calm, respectful requests for a basic written acknowledgment, and two refusals.
View Full Transcript
Automatically generated transcript, provided for accessibility. Minor transcription errors may be present. Hi. Did I scare you? Garbage. It's already closed. Okay. Um, where should I What time do you open? It's closed. I I just want to give you one document. Need you. Oh, you you won't you won't take the document? I I don't think so. Oh, what time do you close? 9 to 12. Monday till Friday every day. Okay. I'm so sorry. Yeah, it's Here's the deal. Tomorrow I There's really no way I could get here. It's just two pages. I just want to drop it off. I'll show you. I just printed it. I mean, I come this far. I'm from New Brunswick. It's been quite a trip. Oh, how is it? But yeah, this one English and Chinese I need to give just to say here you go. Uh, it's important. I've emailed you a few times and no answers, but it's quite important and I would love to see that somebody gets it, you know, but if if you could tell me, okay, I'll give it to somebody. That would be lovely. Um I'm trying to give it I will find my brother could come, you know, I could get someone else to come, but you will be getting it. You will be I believe you have the email. You have you you got send the email. They don't write back. Yeah, because we are not in charge of this and nobody can handle this. Yeah, that's right. So, um there should be something in place like the it's called the ICPR that Taiwan's sworn to uphold. It's against arbitrary punishment, right? and ruining someone's life over the course of four years because of something as arbitrary as sharing a rental contract tells me that Taiwan did not follow its agreement and ruined my life of 15 years there and I will be making sure that every legal channel is tapped into. I'm going to the University of Toronto's law department next. If you can't take it today, I will bring my friend to give it to you tomorrow. But you will be signing that you have it in some capacity between now and whenever. Uh, but it would sure be nice if you could just say, "Yes, Mr. Klein. I will make sure somebody sees this page that should Sorry. Yeah, even me. I don't know how to do it. Oh, you can't fix it. But it needs to go to Taipei to somebody's office. There's something wrong when this happens to a person, you know. Um, you can't. It's not your fault. I wish you'd answer my email so that that kind of is your fault. But you don't have anything you can do so you don't answer them. There's nothing you could do. But I wish somebody would take care of it. I'm willing to uh leave this here. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I appreciate it. And uh I hope somebody can have it tomorrow. Yeah. Love you for Oh, I know. I know. It's a very I'm homesick. You know, I have a son. He's the baby. You don't see him. It's crazy. It's crazy. The fun is what's it called? I think so. Anyways, bye-bye. — Hi. Are you coming to something? Yeah. I I just need a receipt of uh giving you that document. Just No, we don't have receipt for that. You have to just some proof that I gave it to you. No, I'll return your document back for you. Yeah, you have to. We have no right to do this. Okay. Yeah, you have to. No. You sure? No. that I gave it I gave it to the T. I'll return to you. Okay. Yeah, that's it. Well, you can do that. That would be great. Actually, I'm recording you. So, it will look really good for the international human rights lawyers when they see this action. I suppose you could do it this way or the easy way. Just tell me that you got it. We don't need to fight. I'm a calm guy. That's not right. You give me something. Okay, I'll handle for you. Listen to Hello. Right. You asking for receipts? No, not my business. Sorry. It's not your business? No. So there's no Okay. You sure? Can you give me any receipt that I was here today or proof that I was here? Do I need to stay until the police come? The police can give me a report cuz do you can you hear me? I don't have the right to handle that. Sorry. Oh, I know you can't. You have to give it to someone else, dear. No. Well, what am I supposed to do? No. Doesn't seem very logical that someone would be able to not. This is supposed to go to a person. Actually, the person's name is on it. The name of the person is not on it. I guess it's not addressed to anyone in particular. I sure wish you could uh just tell me that you got it, you know, like just say, "I got your document." And we'll give it to someone who might be concerned. You know, this will really uh you know, it could hurt Taiwan. Hi. Hi, Mr. Not me. I hope someone can help me. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Just want proof that I got this. Yeah. I sent you a new one. I sent the new itinerary. Oh, man. You know, from the beginning, I thought the visitor See, I'll ask my supervisor. I don't have the right to do this. Oh, I know. I'm not trying to make you in trouble, but sorry. Yeah. My supervisor have a thing. Oh, certainly. I will get one of some kind. Even if it's a police report, anything. I hear some men talking. Says I can't prove that I ever sent anything to them. I suppose I have emails, but I have emails from a long ago, but I think the physical proof in person twice in Toronto to show why I've done everything I can do. I've exhausted all remedies. I hope you don't think I'm a troublemaker. Well, what happened was I was in a landlord scam four five years ago and I lost my business. I was there for 15 years. — First of all is uh your case not in our jurisdiction belong to Montreal. Okay. Just just every time when you email to us we trans to Montreal office. Can I say something? Are you going to talk at this time we can make photo copy and trans to Montreal office. You need to contact with them. Oh certainly. But can you um basically if I don't have any way to prove that I gave you it then I you know what I mean but we have no right to give you any receipt this not well you see that's what I kind of you know because if I can't show that then how can I go to the you have to contact Montreal office not us well you know here's the deal that's rather impossible and there's a little boy who's seven years old who would Really? Sorry, I can't help. Well, there should be some way to get re. You're going to photocopy it and give it to Montreal office, but I'll call Montreal office. We we can make photo copy and return you this original, but there's no nothing received for you. Okay. We can pass to Montreal office. Yeah, you can pass. Then you contact with Montreal, not here. Do you have in my emails on there? This is my email as well if you wanted to include it. That's okay. Because even an email receipt would be good. Um, you know, that's something. If there's nothing at all, then what do I do? Okay, we return the original back to you. Then you can contact Montreal office. We will You're going to send it to them. So, I'll tell to Montreal. Well, that's something. And then they'll say it by email. Okay. I'll call and you can contact with them. Thank you. Yeah. Same by email. Okay. Okay. Thank you. There you have it folks. That was encounter two. I guess encounter one with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office was yesterday, and you saw how that went. Now I don't really think that there's going to be any response to any email from Ross Cline. I have a feeling — I'm just going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the probability of them being given a warning call about Mr. Ross Cline, and how they should not respond to him, would be in their very best interests. So, if I'm lucky enough to get some proof that I gave them this — that she said she copied, but it's the wrong office apparently. My office is Montreal, because I'm from New Brunswick. So they found a loophole. That little loophole there was all it took for it to be given back and told to go to Montreal. Interesting, isn't it? Anyway, I'll call Montreal. Cheers.
I will update this page as TECO Montreal responds — or as the silence continues.
In the past month alone, videos on this channel were watched for 2,578 minutes. The complete case record, including court documents, legal correspondence, and prior media coverage, is available at rosscline.com/blogs/scam.
