Taiwan has denied South Africa's request that it relocate its representative office from Pretoria, the nation's capital, to Johannesburg, the business hub.
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| International headlines from Abcnews24hr |
Taiwan's TAIPEI -- In the latest attempt by the self-governing island republic to thwart Chinese efforts to diplomatically isolate it, Taiwan has refused South Africa's demand that it relocate its representative office in the nation from the capital, Pretoria, to the commercial hub of Johannesburg.
The demand to relocate or close the office, according to Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu, breached a 1997 agreement between the two countries about the placement of their mutual representative offices after formal diplomatic relations were severed, Liu said at a news conference on Tuesday.
"Our side cannot grant our acceptance when faced with such an unreasonable demand," Liu stated.
The two countries have a solid business relationship, and South Africa keeps a liaison office in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. Since there are no official diplomatic relations between the two countries, the offices serve as de facto embassies and consulates. When South Africa severed diplomatic connections with Taiwan in order to forge ties with China, they were severed.
Taiwan maintains these missions in all of the major countries, although there are only five in Africa, where China has been expanding its influence by constructing infrastructure such as roads and railroads. Taiwan agreed with Nigeria's 2017 decision to relocate its liaison office from Abuja, the country's administrative capital, to Lagos, the commercial hub.
Liu restated Lin Chia-lung, the foreign minister, who said Taiwan "was prepared for all eventualities" about the demand during his speech to the assembly on Monday. According to Lin and Liu, the office is Taiwanese property, and Taipei has the authority to decide where it is located and what its status is.
Despite the fact that the self-governing island republic has strong unofficial ties with the United States and other major countries, China, which asserts that Taiwan is its own territory that must be taken by force if necessary, works tirelessly to reduce Taiwan's international presence.
As a concession to China, which has used its power to keep Taiwan out of the United Nations and its affiliated branches, like the World Health Organization, and to restrict its formal diplomatic partners to just 11 nations and the Vatican, South Africa confirmed last week that it had asked Taiwan to relocate its liaison office.
China has increased its military threats against Taiwan in addition to applying diplomatic and economic pressure. Most recently, it conducted extensive live-fire exercises near the Chinese coastal province of Fujian, which borders Taiwan.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, wrote on the social media site X that "the United States should not tolerate this behavior from South Africa" in response to South Africa's demand that Taiwan relocate its office.
Blackburn added, "I am urging the Biden administration to make it clear that there will be repercussions if South Africa collaborates with the (Chinese Communist Party) to intimidate Taiwan," including the exclusion of South Africa from a crucial economic initiative.
She went on to say, "The United States must not offer trade advantages to nations that value China's influence over democratic alliances."
During the years of martial law and apartheid, Taiwan and South Africa maintained a close relationship. When both nations embraced democracy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, that altered. But as Beijing asked, former President Nelson Mandela severed ties with Taiwan due to China's emergence as a major world power and its backing of the African National Congress.
Although the actual effects of moving Taiwan's headquarters are unknown, Taiwan has demonstrated a growing resolve to oppose China's campaign of military threats and diplomatic snubs. If Taipei continues to insist on staying put, it is questionable if South Africa would actually carry out its threat to close the office.
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