Larry Tseng, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta, will leave his post in September to become Taiwan's ambassador to the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu.

The new appointment surprised Mr. Tseng, who in June marked two years serving six states in the Southeast U.S. Taiwanese diplomats generally serve three-year tours, he told GlobalAtlanta.  

Thanks to the region's southern hospitality and Atlanta's low cost of living and pleasant weather, Mr. Tseng enjoyed his posting here more than stints in San Francisco and Washington, where he spent time earlier in his career.

"I feel very comfortable working with this area's people and government and legislatures," he said.

Tuvalu, a small chain of coral reef islands with about 12,000 people, is a "totally different culture," but Mr. Tseng's experience in Polynesia leaves him well prepared. In addition to serving in the Solomon Islands in the mid-1990s, in the early 2000s he lived two years in Palau and worked for a year as charge d'affairs at Taiwan's embassy in Tuvalu.

Taiwan has had diplomatic ties with Tuvalu since the island gained independence from British rule in 1979. It is one of 24 nations with formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which is also known as the Republic of China. Most countries, including the U.S., recognize the People's Republic of China, which considers Taiwan a wayward province. 

For that reason, the Taipei office in Atlanta isn't officially considered a diplomatic post.  

Mr. Tseng will administer his government's range of programs in Tuvalu, including fisheries and public health, agricultural and renewable energy projects.

"Most of their power is still from petroleum, and since global warming is an issue and the prices are very unstable, we help them to develop solar power systems," he said. 

While Taiwan is already an important investor in the Southeast, there is ample room for U.S. states to grow their trade with Taiwan without abandoning their focus on mainland China, Mr. Tseng said.

Relations with China have steadily improved over the past two years, and Taiwanese businesspeople have the knowledge as well as the cultural and language skills to help American companies succeed there, he said. 

"We know how to do business with mainland China, and actually over the past 20-30 years Taiwan's investment in mainland China is one of the factors to help mainland China improve economic development," he said.

Last year, Taiwan and China began cross-strait flights and established direct shipping between their ports. Now, there are more than 380 flights per week, allowing American businesspeople to visit Taiwan in less than two hours from Shanghai, Mr. Tseng said.