The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not rule out demanding that South Africa move its representative office outside of Taipei in retaliation for its ultimatum that Taiwan relocate its representative office to Johannesburg, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday.
South Africa on Oct. 7 issued an ultimatum via e-mail to Taiwan to move its representative office out of the country’s administrative capital of Pretoria by the end of this month, adding that the move was “unnegotiable,” the source said.
The ministry said that it would work out all possible responses based on the principle of reciprocity if South Africa “insists on submitting to China.”
Photo: CNA
It has also reached out to politicians who are friendly to Taiwan in South Africa and other nations to speak up on the nation’s behalf, the ministry said.
The source said that South Africa had been pressuring the Taiwan representative office to relocate since last year’s BRICS summit.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sept. 2 issued the All-Round Strategic Cooperative Partnership in a New Era joint statement with China at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, in which he said that “Taiwan was an inseparable part of China.”
In April, the South African government cited UN Resolution 2758 and the “one China” policy to officially demand that Taiwan’s representative office move from Pretoria to Johannesburg.
The ministry had appealed to factions within the South African government friendly to Taiwan to assist in the matter and sought aid from like-minded countries within the G7, the source added.
Despite concerns lodged with Pretoria by those countries’ ambassadors, South Africa seemed resolute in appeasing China, they said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) had instructed agencies to formulate a response that would “uphold Taiwan’s sovereignty and dignity while observing the welfare and benefits of Taiwanese expatriates,” the source said.
In addition to demanding that the Liasion Office of South Africa relocate out of Taipei, the ministry is considering adopting more stringent measures regarding visa applications by South Africans and temporarily pausing education collaborations, they said.
The ministry would instead prioritize employing English-language teachers from long-time Taiwanese diplomatic ally Eswatini, the source said.
Another ministry source said that in 2015 and 2018, China provided loans totaling US$2.5 billion to South African state-owned logistics company Transnet and power company Eskom.
Early last month, the New Development Bank was swayed by China to offer South Africa US$5 billion in financing to improve its railways, the second source said.
These Belt and Road Initiative loans have undoubtedly deepened South Africa’s reliance on China, allowing Beijing to exert significant influence over senior officials to sway South Africa’s stance on international affairs, they said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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