The Taiwanese Association in Southern Africa (TASA) yesterday sent a letter to South Africa’s Presidential Office and parliament to urge the government to withdraw its demand for Taiwan to relocate its liaison office out of the capital.
On Friday last week, the South African government publicly stated that Taiwan’s representative office must relocate out of Pretoria, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said was due to pressure from China.
South Africa had reportedly first requested the office to leave Pretoria last year before officially asking the office in April to do so by the end of this month.
Photo: AP
Yesterday, TASA, along with the Africa Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce, published an open letter urging the government to reconsider its demand.
There are currently about 7,000 to 8000 Taiwanese citizens living in South Africa, including those who moved there decades ago, local-born people and businesspeople who are there temporarily, Pretoria City Councilor Lee Chung-wei (李崇維) said.
Lee sent the open letter on behalf of the organizations to the government, as well as local media, in hopes that the two countries could maintain long-standing friendly relations, as well as uphold the values of democracy and freedom, he said.
The letter highlighted the positive effects of bilateral trade and humanitarian aid and appealed to both countries’ recent history overcoming historical difficulties.
“Given South Africa’s experience with apartheid, it should be empathetic to the values of freedom of speech, belief, movement, opinion and expression,” the TASA letter said.
The letter also highlights South Africa’s US$700 million trade surplus with Taiwan, which provides its growing automotive manufacturing sector with key components, as well as the liaison office’s work in coordinating relief efforts for the “most vulnerable” South Africans.
These relief efforts include donating 500 tons of rice this year alone, as well as hundreds of wheelchairs and millions of US dollars for other relief aid such as blankets, hygiene products and groceries, the letter said.
The letter ends by calling the relocation request “extreme prejudice” against the Taiwanese community.
In related news, the US Department of State said that it encourages all countries to deepen their engagement with Taiwan.
Although South Africa’s government has denied that it is facing pressure from China, a number of US lawmakers have publicly linked the move to Beijing, including US senators Marsha Blackburn and Tom Cotton, as well as US representatives Carlos Gimenez, Michelle Steel and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul.
In a statement, a US Department of State spokesperson said that while the US does not have its own commentary on the matter, Taiwan’s international partnerships bring substantial and sustainable benefits to other nations.
The deadline for the office to leave Pretoria is on Thursday next week, although it remains unclear whether South Africa will withdraw the demand or what countermeasures Taiwan's foreign ministry will implement.
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