Taiwan has informed the South African government that it would not relocate its representative office Pretoria before the end of this month as requested, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
“Our office is still in operation and will stay in the capital,” Lin told lawmakers during a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
The South African government unilaterally contravened an agreement it signed with Taipei in 1997, after Pretoria announced in December 1996 its intention to establish relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Lin said.
Photo: Screen grab from Google Maps
The agreement stipulates that Taiwan would continue to operate a liaison office in Pretoria despite the end of official diplomatic ties, while South Africa is permitted to have a presence in Taipei, he said.
South Africa is legally bound to follow that agreement, he said, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has made its stance clear to Pretoria.
The ministry last week confirmed that the South African government had asked Taiwan to relocate its representative office in Pretoria before the end of this month, allegedly due to pressure from China.
The ministry was still trying to persuade the South African government to withdraw its request, as such a move would be detrimental to the countries’ cordial bilateral exchanges in trade, education and technology, it said.
After South Africa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in January 1998, the government established a representative office in Pretoria called the Taipei Liaison Office in the Republic of South Africa. Taiwan has a branch office in Cape Town called the Taipei Liaison Office, while there is also the Liaison Office of South Africa in Taipei.
The South African government first asked the Taipei office in Pretoria to relocate last year following a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for last year’s BRICS summit, Lin said.
Last month, Beijing hosted the annual Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, attended by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
On those occasions, “China continued to exert pressure,” Lin said.
In April, South Africa officially asked the Taipei office to leave its capital before the end of this month.
It sent an ultimatum to the Taipei office on Oct. 7, indicating that if the office does not move out of Pretoria before the end of this month, it would be forced to close.
The issue was “nonnegotiable,” it said.
Over the past few months, many like-minded countries, including the US, Japan and the Czech Republic, have tried to convince Pretoria to reverse its decision, Lin said.
South African political leaders and some media also voiced concerns over the decision, he said.
While the South African government is a coalition, some lawmakers have said they were unhappy with its decision regarding Taiwan, saying it failed to consult with all coalition members beforehand.
Taipei has prepared contingency plans if the office is forced to leave Pretoria by the deadline, including asking the South African office in Taiwan to relocate out of Taipei, Lin said.
In a news release issued on Friday, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation said its request that the Taipei office leave Pretoria is “consistent with resolution 2758 of the United Nations General Assembly, which is widely adhered to by the international community.”
It also said it has provided “a reasonable six months to make the move.”
UN Resolution 2758, adopted in 1971 to address the issue of China’s representation in the world body, resulted in the Republic of China losing its seat in the global body to the PRC. The resolution did not address the status of Taiwan.
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