Taiwan rejects South Africa’s demand to move its representative office from the capital

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan has rejected South Africa’s demand to move its representative office in the country from the capital, Pretoria, to the commercial hub of Johannesburg, in the autonomous island republic’s latest attempt to roll back Chinese moves to isolate diplomatically.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu told a news conference on Tuesday that the demand to relocate or close the office violated a 1997 agreement between the parties on the location of their mutual representative offices after the breakdown of formal diplomatic relations.

“Faced with this kind of unreasonable demand, our side cannot grant our acceptance,” Liu said.

South Africa maintains a liaison office in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, and the two sides have a strong trade relationship. The offices function as de facto embassies and consulates, as the two sides do not have formal diplomatic ties. They broke up when South Africa cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan to establish relations with China.

Taiwan maintains such missions in all major nations, but has only five in Africa, where China has increased its presence by building roads, railways and other infrastructure. In 2017, Nigeria ordered Taiwan’s liaison office to move from the administrative capital of Abuja to the commercial center of Lagos, and Taiwan complied.

Liu repeated Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung’s statement to the legislature on Monday that Taiwan “was prepared for all eventualities” over the lawsuit. The office is owned by Taiwan, and Taipei reserves the right to determine its location and status, Lin and Liu said.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary, seeks tirelessly to minimize Taiwan’s international representation, although the autonomous island republic maintains strong unofficial relations with the US and others great nations

South Africa confirmed last week that it had asked Taiwan to move its liaison office, in a demand seen as purely a concession to China, which has used its influence to keep Taiwan out of the United Nations and affiliated branches such as the World Health Organization. and limit its formal diplomatic partners to just 11 countries and the Vatican.

In addition to diplomatic and economic pressure, China has stepped up its military threats against Taiwan, recently holding large-scale live-fire drills near the Chinese coastal province of Fujian, which faces Taiwan.

South Africa’s demand that Taiwan relocate its office has also drawn attention from the US Congress, with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, posting on the social platform X that “the United States should not tolerate this behavior from South Africa.”

“I ask … the Biden administration to make clear that there will be consequences if South Africa works with the (Chinese Communist Party) to bully Taiwan,” including South Africa’s withdrawal from a key trade program, he said Blackburn.

“The United States must not provide trade benefits to countries that prioritize China’s influence over democratic partnerships,” he added.

Taiwan and South Africa had close relations during the decades of apartheid rule and when Taiwan was under martial law. This changed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when both countries committed to democracy. But China’s rise as a world power and support for the African National Congress prompted former president Nelson Mandela to cut ties with Taiwan as Beijing demanded.

It is unclear what practical impact the move of Taiwan’s office would have, but Taiwan has shown growing determination to resist China’s campaign of diplomatic snubs and military intimidation. It remains unclear whether South Africa would follow through on its threat to close the office’s operations if Taipei stands by its insistence that it not move.