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Taiwan Defies South Africa: Embassy Relocation Demand Ignites Diplomatic Tensions!
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In a bold move that has set the stage for a diplomatic standoff, South Africa (SA) has demanded Taiwan relocate its de facto embassy from the administrative capital Tshwane (formerly Pretoria) to the financial and economic hub of Johannesburg, a directive Taiwan defiantly refuses to follow.
This unprecedented clash not only tests Taiwan's fragile international presence but also raises serious questions about SA's deepening ties with communist China, its largest trading partner and Taiwan’s fiercest adversary.
Is this the latest sign of Beijing’s growing influence in African diplomacy, or a calculated move by SA to shift the balance of power in the region? South Africa has accused Taiwain of dragging its feet about moving to Johannesburg.
This comes as government communicators have been at pains to explain that SA – one of Africa’s largest economies – is not under pressure from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to relocate Taiwan’s liaison office from Tshwane to Johannesburg.
Tshwane is an important city in foreign affairs as it is among cities with the largest number of foreign embassies and diplomatic missions in the world.
The PRC views Taiwan as a breakaway – a renegade, if you like – province which needs to be reunified with mainland China as part of its One China policy which SA recognises.
The animosity between China and Taiwan is mainly about Taiwan’s sovereignty and status. Taiwan, or the Republic of China (ROC), its formal name, has been existing as a self-governing, democratic state for years now, with 13 countries maintaining formal relations with Taiwan instead of the PRC.
The countries include:
That said, Taiwan, which continues to reject the idea of reunification under Beijing’s rule, enjoys unofficial diplomatic relations with other countries including the United States, Germany, Canada, France, UK, India, and Australia, through economic, cultural, trade, and representative offices.
It’s often said that these countries face diplomatic and economic pressure from China to switch their allegiance. In recent years, several African countries have severed official ties with Taiwan due to China's diplomatic efforts.
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The Business Day has reported that for SA, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides preferential access for about 20% of its exports to the US, or 2% of its shipments globally. SA was the second-largest AGOA exporter in 2023, behind Nigeria, and the largest exporter of noncrude oil products ($3.6bn in 2023), supplying a range of products, including vehicles, yachts, jewellery, chemicals and fruit.
The PRC views Taiwan as a breakaway – a renegade, if you like – province which needs to be reunified with mainland China as part of its One China policy which SA recognises.
The animosity between China and Taiwan is mainly about Taiwan’s sovereignty and status. Taiwan, or the Republic of China (ROC), its formal name, has been existing as a self-governing, democratic state for years now, with 13 countries maintaining formal relations with Taiwan instead of the PRC.
The countries include:
- Belize
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Haiti
- Paraguay
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
- Tuvalu
- Nauru
- Marshall Islands
- Palau
That said, Taiwan, which continues to reject the idea of reunification under Beijing’s rule, enjoys unofficial diplomatic relations with other countries including the United States, Germany, Canada, France, UK, India, and Australia, through economic, cultural, trade, and representative offices.
It’s often said that these countries face diplomatic and economic pressure from China to switch their allegiance. In recent years, several African countries have severed official ties with Taiwan due to China's diplomatic efforts.
For example, in 2017, Nigeria ordered Taiwan to shut down its trade office in its capital, Abuja, in what Taipei said was an attempt by Beijing to push it out of the country, according to AFP. In 2019, Burkina Faso cut ties with Taiwan under pressure from China.
The China-Taiwan diplomatic spat is pushing the U.S. to reinforce its support for Taiwan, viewing it as a crucial ally in promoting democracy and countering Chinese influence in the region. And as tensions rise, the U.S. faces increasing pressure to navigate its strategic interests while openly backing Taiwan's sovereignty against Chinese assertiveness, or aggression, to put it more aptly.
The spat has already attracted the attention of Republican senators including Marsha Blackburn and Tom Cotton, who represent the states of Tennessee and Arkansas respectively, who took to X (formerly Twitter) to weigh in on the controversy.
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member, Senator Jim Risch, posted on X: "South Africa undermines U.S. interests by surrendering its sovereignty to China and punishing #Taiwan, while praising Putin's corrupt regime at the anti-West BRICS Summit. Why does the Biden Admin refuse to review its policy towards a #SouthAfrica that is hostile to the U.S.?"
“I am calling on (U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken) and the the Biden administration to make it clear that there will be consequences if South Africa works with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to bully Taiwan, including removing South Africa from the AGOA trade program,” Blackburn wrote.
The trade initiative, which was passed in 2000 under former president Bill Clinton to deepen trade ties with Sub-Saharan Africa and help African countries develop their economies, provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for most agricultural and manufactured products exported by eligible African countries. It has been renewed twice and is due to expire in September 2025.
Beijing said the drills were a "stern warning to the separatist acts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces", according to AFP.
Meanwhile, a week ago, China deployed fighter jets, drones and warships to encircle Taiwan in the fourth round of large-scale military drills in just over two years, the AFP reported.
Taipei condemned Beijing's actions as "irrational and provocative," and the island's key backer and biggest arms supplier, the U.S., called them "disproportionate."
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| SA's Cyril Ramaphosa and PRC's Xi Jinping |
Despite SA’s decision on Taiwan being characterised – by many social media users and commentators - as mounting pressure from China to isolate the island republic, the department of international relations & cooperation (Dirco) said SA is not under pressure from any country.
In a media statement on October 18, Dirco spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said the ministry notes with concern the “mischaracterisation of its engagements with the Taipei Liaison Office (TLO)”.
“SA's democratic government severed political and diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1997. This is consistent with resolution 2758 of the United Nations General Assembly, which is widely adhered to by the international community,” Phiri said.
“Relocating what will be rebranded as Trade Offices both in Taipei and in Johannesburg, which is standard diplomatic practice, will be a true reflection of the non-political and non-diplomatic nature of the relationship between the Republic of SA and Taiwan.”
Phiri said the Trade Office will be “appropriately placed” in Johannesburg, SA’s economic hub”.
“This also aligns with standard diplomatic practice that capital cities are the seats of Foreign Embassies and High Commissions. Several engagements have been held with the TLO to correct this anomaly despite approaches by third-party countries, which is itself an unusual diplomatic practice,” he said.
“The TLO were given a reasonable six months to make the move. The same was communicated via the South African Liaison Office (SALO) in Taipei by SA’s representative to the territory.”
However, Taiwan has rejected the government demands that it relocate its office to Johannesburg, a move viewed as pushing back against Chinese moves to diplomatically isolate it.
The Associated Press quoted Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu as saying the demand to move or shut the office violated a 1997 agreement between the sides on the location of their mutual representative offices following the severing of formal diplomatic relations.
“Facing this kind of unreasonable demand, our side cannot grant our acceptance,” Liu was quoted as saying.
In an interview with news channel Newzroom Afrika last week Wednesday, Phiri said it was a very unfortunate mischaracterisation of the issue “to claim that we are receiving pressure from another country. SA’s foreign policy has always been an independent one”.
“And not only is it an unfortunate mischaracterisation, it’s, frankly, a historic position. The decision to cut political and diplomatic ties with Taiwan was taken in 1997 and implemented effective of 1 January 1998. It’s a factual position and it’s evidently out there,” said Phiri.
“Also the decision is consistent with a UN Resolution 2758 of the General Assembly, so to suggest that we should, like the Apartheid state, behave in a rogue manner and completely ignore UN resolution is deeply unfortunate and I take those who are arguing this position is in favour of another government should really apply themselves to the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, but also with the position that the democratic government has taken since 1997.”
Phiri argued these are the “facts that are on the table”. I wonder why the SA government had to wait until now in demanding that Taiwan’s office be moved to Johannesburg, if diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed in 1997?
“What we have now done is to say the true nature of our relations with Taiwan are trade in nature and we value these relations ... but what that means is that you cannot have a liaison office in the capital city.
“That is the preserve of political and diplomatic relations. In other words, these are where you recognise that country, and that’s where you’d have an embassy and a high commission in the capital. And that’s a convention all over the world, SA is not alone in this,” Phiri said.
“To intimate that SA,” he said, “is doing something that is completely out of the ordinary, or completely extraordinary, in world affairs, is an unfortunate mischaracterisation at best.”
To put matters into context, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are bosom buddies. The total trade value between China and SA is about US$50bn annually. Ever heard of the phrase: money talks? The growing strong trade between the two nations underscores the strategic importance of their broader economic partnership. And both countries are members of the BRICS Plus bloc of countries and have been participating together on global summits and platforms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, among others.
Phiri said the Trade Office will be “appropriately placed” in Johannesburg, SA’s economic hub”.
“This also aligns with standard diplomatic practice that capital cities are the seats of Foreign Embassies and High Commissions. Several engagements have been held with the TLO to correct this anomaly despite approaches by third-party countries, which is itself an unusual diplomatic practice,” he said.
“The TLO were given a reasonable six months to make the move. The same was communicated via the South African Liaison Office (SALO) in Taipei by SA’s representative to the territory.”
However, Taiwan has rejected the government demands that it relocate its office to Johannesburg, a move viewed as pushing back against Chinese moves to diplomatically isolate it.
The Associated Press quoted Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jeff Liu as saying the demand to move or shut the office violated a 1997 agreement between the sides on the location of their mutual representative offices following the severing of formal diplomatic relations.
“Facing this kind of unreasonable demand, our side cannot grant our acceptance,” Liu was quoted as saying.
In an interview with news channel Newzroom Afrika last week Wednesday, Phiri said it was a very unfortunate mischaracterisation of the issue “to claim that we are receiving pressure from another country. SA’s foreign policy has always been an independent one”.
“And not only is it an unfortunate mischaracterisation, it’s, frankly, a historic position. The decision to cut political and diplomatic ties with Taiwan was taken in 1997 and implemented effective of 1 January 1998. It’s a factual position and it’s evidently out there,” said Phiri.
“Also the decision is consistent with a UN Resolution 2758 of the General Assembly, so to suggest that we should, like the Apartheid state, behave in a rogue manner and completely ignore UN resolution is deeply unfortunate and I take those who are arguing this position is in favour of another government should really apply themselves to the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, but also with the position that the democratic government has taken since 1997.”
Phiri argued these are the “facts that are on the table”. I wonder why the SA government had to wait until now in demanding that Taiwan’s office be moved to Johannesburg, if diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed in 1997?
“What we have now done is to say the true nature of our relations with Taiwan are trade in nature and we value these relations ... but what that means is that you cannot have a liaison office in the capital city.
“That is the preserve of political and diplomatic relations. In other words, these are where you recognise that country, and that’s where you’d have an embassy and a high commission in the capital. And that’s a convention all over the world, SA is not alone in this,” Phiri said.
“To intimate that SA,” he said, “is doing something that is completely out of the ordinary, or completely extraordinary, in world affairs, is an unfortunate mischaracterisation at best.”
To put matters into context, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are bosom buddies. The total trade value between China and SA is about US$50bn annually. Ever heard of the phrase: money talks? The growing strong trade between the two nations underscores the strategic importance of their broader economic partnership. And both countries are members of the BRICS Plus bloc of countries and have been participating together on global summits and platforms such as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, among others.
While it cannot be definitively confirmed that China directly pressured SA to relocate Taiwan's representative office, the move aligns with China's broader diplomatic strategy of curbing Taiwan's influence in geopolitics. Given China's significant economic and political relationship with SA, it is reasonable to assume that China's influence played a part in shaping this decision, even if indirectly.
This makes the China-Taiwan conflict one of today's most pressing geopolitical issues. And Taiwan’s rejection of Pretoria’s demand to relocate its office could be read as a tacit move or strategy by the island republic to remain relevant in African diplomacy and trade, while avoiding a full-blown diplomatic spat with Red China, whose SA embassy is situated at 972 Pretorius Street at Arcadia in Pretoria.
As tensions simmer between SA and Taiwan, the world watches to see who will blink first. Will Taiwan stand firm, risking further diplomatic isolation, or will SA, swayed by China's influence, escalate the standoff to prove its allegiance to Beijing? With neither side showing signs of backing down, this battle of wills could redefine not only Taiwan’s foothold in Africa but also the extent of China’s grip on global diplomacy. In this high-stakes game, the real question remains: who will fold first, and at what cost?
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