Taiwan's liaison office in Hatfield, Pretoria. (Photo: Phill Magakoe / AFP) The South African government has issued a Government Gazette officially withdrawing its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan’s representative office in Pretoria. This is the latest move in Pretoria’s mounting pressure to force Taiwan to move out of its Pretoria office and relocate to Johannesburg.
Taiwan has rejected and strongly protested at the “unilateral action” and said it would “take appropriate action in accordance with the circumstances”. It said the SA government had bowed to pressure from Beijing.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) said the South African government had published its “unreasonable announcement” — without consulting Taiwan — after Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s visit to China from July 14 to 18.
“This demonstrates that China has ramped up suppression of Taiwan in South Africa and that South Africa is willing to bow to China and exert pressure on Taiwan. Mofa expresses regret and dissatisfaction over these developments.”
Pretoria’s notice in the Government Gazette said, “The Taipei Liaison Office, now referred to as the Taipei Commercial Office, situated in Pretoria, will no longer be recognised as of 31 March 2025. Rather, the Republic of South Africa will, from 1 April 2025, recognise the Taipei Commercial Office, based in Johannesburg, through which consular services will be rendered and through which non-diplomatic and non-political engagements will continue.”
Taiwan has no office in Johannesburg, even though on its website, South Africa’s Department of International Relations recently and unilaterally changed the address of the country’s office from Pretoria to an address in Johannesburg, which used to house Taiwan’s information office, before it moved out several years ago.
One China policy
The SA government has been putting pressure on Taiwan to move from Pretoria to Johannesburg since late 2023. It claimed that Taiwan having an office in the capital violates the One China policy, which SA adopted in 1998 when it switched recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China.
However, Taiwan has pointed out that almost all countries in the world, including Russia, India and Brazil, allow Taiwan to maintain representative offices in their capital cities, although these offices go under the name of Taiwan’s capital, Taipei, rather than under the name Taiwan.
In its notice, SA said it had called on Taiwan to move its office from Pretoria to Johannesburg because this was “more appropriate, given its status as the country’s economic hub”. It added that the Taipei Liaison Office in Cape Town would now be referred to as the Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.
Taiwan’s Mofa said it “reiterates that the position of the Taiwan government remains unchanged and that it will not accept the South African government’s unilateral violation of its 1997 agreement with Taiwan”.
This agreement by SA to allow Taiwan to continue maintaining a representative office in Pretoria — but under the name Taipei Liaison Office — was reached after SA switched its official diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China.
“The Taiwan government will continue to communicate with the South African government on the principles of parity and dignity,” said Mofa. “And in the face of South Africa’s repeated unilateral changes to the names and status of Taiwan’s liaison offices, Taiwan will take appropriate action in accordance with the circumstances.”
Pretoria had justified its move by citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971, “which recognises the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legitimate representative of China”.
However, Taiwan has said in the past that this resolution says nothing about the country not being allowed in countries which switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
“Mofa solemnly calls on South Africa, as the host country of this year’s Group of 20 summit, to abide by the 1997 legal framework concerning bilateral relations and not employ coercive tactics against Taiwan’s liaison offices or take any other actions that might interfere with their operations or services before both sides have reached a consensus through consultations.”
SA’s efforts to pressure Taiwan to move from Pretoria to Johannesburg have been cited by the Trump administration and US congressional representatives as one of the reasons they are seeking to sanction South Africa. DM