Six Republican members of the US House of Representatives have sent a letter to US President Donald Trump calling on Washington to revoke South Africa’s duty-free access to the US market and suspend diplomatic engagement over its demand that Taiwan move its liaison office from the administrative capital.
US representatives Andy Ogles, Tom Tiffany, Don Bacon, Joe Wilson, Randy Weber and Brandon Gill in the letter published on Tuesday cited South Africa’s “self-abasing advocacy” of the Chinese Communist Party, in addition to alleged human rights abuses and corruption, as being contrary to US national interests.
“The Republic of South Africa is in apparent need of a reminder of what happens when American interests are marginalized,” the letter said.
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In October last year, several members of Congress wrote a letter to then-US president Joe Biden urging him to confront South Africa over the nation’s demand for Taiwan to relocate its representative office out of Pretoria, the letter said.
Although the South African government agreed to delay the relocation demand, it has renewed its request “at the behest of the People’s Republic of China [PRC],” it said.
Last month, South Africa’s government sent a letter to the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa demanding a move by the end of this month and announcing plans to downgrade it to a “trade office.”
“The PRC’s unabashed global commitment to Taiwan’s diplomatic marginalization, if successful, would provide every reason for the PRC to commit to an invasion of the island. This would be contrary to our national interest and the interests of those who prioritize peace over conflict,” the letter said.
If Trump were to follow the lawmakers’ recommendation, South Africa would lose preferential access to export duty-free goods to the US, among other trade privileges it has under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected South Africa’s unilateral decision to close the office and said it violates previous bilateral agreements.
It vowed to “continue to communicate with the South African government based on the principles of equality and dignity.”
Other US, UK and French lawmakers have also criticized South Africa’s decision.
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