Taiwan has denied South Africa’s proposal to move its representative office from the capital, Pretoria, to the commercial center, Johannesburg.
At a press briefing, Jeff Liu, a spokesman for Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry, said the move or closure of the office violated a 1997 agreement between the two countries. The requests made by the South African government are in violation of the 1997 agreement between Taiwan and South Africa, which states that both countries are permitted to have offices in each other’s nations. He declared, “The South African government’s irrational demands will never be accepted by our side.”
Taiwan has consistently resisted China’s attempts to diplomatically isolate the self-governing island, and this decision underscores that.
At the legislature on Monday, Liu restated Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung’s declaration that Taiwan “is ready for any situation” regarding the demand.
South Africa has requested Taiwan to relocate its liaison office in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, due to a lack of formal diplomatic relations. The South African government has a liaison office in Taipei, reflecting a strong commercial relationship between the two countries.
China claims Taiwan is its territory and is ready to use force to annex it. Taiwan operates missions in all major countries but only five in Africa, where China’s influence is growing through infrastructure projects. In 2017, Nigeria requested Taiwan relocate its liaison office from Abuja to Lagos, and Taiwan agreed.
South Africa’s recent request is seen as a concession to China, which has excluded Taiwan from the United Nations and related organizations while restricting its formal diplomatic relationships to only 11 countries and the Vatican.
(News Agencies)
