The current phase of talks with South Africa regarding its demand to move the nation’s representative office from Pretoria is “more challenging” than the first round due to intensified Chinese pressure, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday.
On Oct. 7 last year, South Africa requested that the office move by the end of that month.
However, on Oct. 29, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said that South Africa had expressed willingness to reach a deal through official communication channels.
The relocation was delayed after the first round of talks.
However, late last month the South African government once again sent a letter to the Taipei Liason Office in South Africa requesting that it move from the administrative capital by the end of next month and stated plans to downgrade it to a “trade office.”
The ministry on Sunday said it would “continue to communicate with the South African government based on the principles of equality and dignity.”
The ministry would maintain its stance that it would not move as it enters a more challenging phase of talks, the source said yesterday.
The ministry has also thanked its international allies for their continued support in speaking out on the matter, they said.
US Senator Marsha Blackburn on Monday wrote on X that she supports Taiwan in the matter.
“The United States must stand with Taiwan and stand up to South Africa,” Blackburn wrote, adding that if South Africa works with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to “bully Taiwan,” Washington should consider removing the nation from the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Bilateral discussions are ongoing, although the latest developments show China’s intensified pressure on South Africa, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Deputy Director Chen Yung-po (陳詠博) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The CCP’s suppression of Taiwan has become commonplace, but this latest move shows an attempt to gauge the reactions of the new governments of the US and Japan, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said.
The Pretoria location was determined based on legally binding agreements between the two nations, leaving no justification for the relocation request, Wang said.
In contravening this agreement, China is bound to end up “losing more than it gains,” while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio might exclude South Africa from aid programs in response to its perceived allegiance to China, Wang added.
