Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) today rejected the South African government’s unilateral demand for Taiwan’s representative office to move out of the administrative capital, Pretoria, by the end of the month.
South Africa on Oct. 7 issued an ultimatum via e-mail to Taiwan to move its representative office out of Pretoria by the end of this month or face closure, adding that the move was “unnegotiable,” people familiar with the matter said.
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Since last year’s BRICS Summit when Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) visited South Africa and this year's Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China has continued to exert pressure on Taiwan’s relations on the continent.
The South African liaison office is operating normally and has no plans to move, as the countries have a 1997 agreement that states that liaison offices shall be established in each country’s respective capital, Lin told the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee today.
He called on South Africa to abide by the rule of law and negotiate with Taiwan, and threatened to have South Africa’s representative office in Taipei move as well in retaliation.
Committee members expressed concern about the potential “domino effect” of how this demand could influence the decisions of other countries, but Lin said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has potential countermeasures in place for such a scenario.
Taiwan would also continue to strengthen diplomatic relations with ally Eswatini, Lin added.
Within South Africa, some politicians have spoken out against the move.
The Democratic Alliance party said that they “have not been provided with any motivation that justifies a unilateral change to the terms of our bilateral framework with Taiwan.”
Local media in South Africa has also commented on the issue, with mCity Press saying that the country is “acquiescing to the bullying” from China.
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