Following the ultimatum, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and co-operation was revealed this month to have changed the name of its Taipei Liaison Office to the Taipei business office on its website.
South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation has renamed its representative office in Taipei, Taiwan’s United News Network reported Wednesday, citing South Africa’s independent online news network. On the 16th, an island reporter checked South Africa’s official website and found that until mid-february, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and cooperation had listed“Taipei Liaison Representative Office” separately, in early March, the Taipei office was renamed the“Taipei Commercial Office” and placed on the list of international organizations in South Africa.
The head of the Taiwanese foreign affairs department, Lin Chia-lung, called an emergency meeting on the 16th to urge the Taipei representative office in South Africa to uphold the principles of reciprocity and dignity and to continue representations with the South African Department of International Relations and cooperation.
“The change of name is more precisely in line with the role and nature of the office and is considered to be an important step in the relocation of the Taipei office, which will be completed by the end of this month,” said Sain. South Africa broke relations with Taiwan in 1998, but Taipei has a representative office in one of its capitals, Pretoria. On October 7 last year, the South African government informed the Taipei office that it would move by October 30 and that there was no room for negotiation. The South African government believes that Taiwan is an economic entity and that bilateral relations are an unofficial economic, trade and cultural exchange. The Taipei representative office should be set up in Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa and also an economic and Trade Center, not the political center of Pretoria.
Some Taiwanese media said that under the mediation of the“Friendly Taiwan Area,” South Africa canceled the deadline for moving at the end of October last year. The China times electronic news mentioned that Taiwan authorities only have Swaziland left as a“Diplomatic partner” in Africa, but it has 6 offices abroad in Africa. In addition to Swaziland, it also includes two sites in Nigeria, Côte d’ivoire, Somaliland and South Africa.
At the end of January, the South African government again issued an“Ultimatum” to the Taipei representative office to move out of Pretoria by the end of March. According to South African media, the Taipei representative office is located in the administrative capital of South Africa and is adjacent to embassies in South Africa, which is“Tantamount to South Africa’s diplomatic recognition of Taiwan” and contradicts Beijing’s position. According to an analysis by the China Times electronic newspaper, South Africa has asked the Taiwan authorities to move their representative office in Pretoria to Johannesburg and change its name to a commercial office, “It’s a clear demotion in the relationship, both in terms of kicking out the capital and de-politicizing it,” he said.
Xu Miansheng, a retired foreign affairs official on the island, wrote that the DPP authorities had set up a so-called“Taiwan representative office” in Lithuania in November 2021, causing an uproar. China immediately downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania from ambassadorial level to chargé d’affaires level. The DPP authorities set up the“Taiwan representative office” for the sole purpose of promoting“Taiwan consciousness” in the international arena, creating the international impression of“One Country on Each Side” and promoting“Pragmatic Taiwan independence”. He argued that Tsai Ing-wen had lost 10“Diplomatic allies” during his eight years in office and that China’s blockade had now spread to countries with no“Diplomatic allies” with the Taiwanese authorities, inflicting great damage on Taipei. The article mentioned that Nigeria and South Africa have successively asked the Taipei representative office to move out of the capital, symbolizing the non-recognition of Taiwan’s“Statehood.” “It can be interpreted as a WWE The Great n Bash of William Lai’s claim that ‘Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country’ .”.
The China Times electronic newspaper commented that the DPP authorities are“Pro-us and anti-china” and think they can rest easy on the US, but the US is unable to push Taiwan into the UN, not even to participate in international conferences, china can tighten Taiwan’s belt. cross-strait relations have deteriorated since William Lai took office, and it is not surprising that the diplomatic fence has been dug up again, “The Democratic Progressive Party government can not come up with solutions, but also refused to face the root causes of the problem, Taiwan can only step by step towards the plight of isolation.”.