Taiwan blasts Lamola for claiming it has no office in Washington DC

The Taiwanese government has castigated South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola for claiming that Taiwan has no representative office in the United States capital, Washington, DC. 

Taiwan has a large office in the US capital, in the diplomatic quarter.

Lamola made the comment at a press briefing on Wednesday, 27 August 2025, in an attempt to justify why his government was trying to expel Taiwan from its office in Pretoria.

The SA government has taken the view that Taiwan should not have an office in SA’s capital, as that privilege should be reserved for countries with which SA maintains diplomatic relations. 

This was the common practice worldwide, Lamola repeated on Wednesday. He was asked for an update on his government’s persistent efforts to force Taiwan to move its office from Pretoria to Johannesburg, which Taiwan has resisted.

“The issue of the relocation of the Taiwan Liaison Office, from our side, we consider it done because we have gazetted its relocation to the city of Johannesburg as a commercial liaison office.

“And we have stated the reasons because our relations with Taiwan are at the commercial level in trade.

“And this is not just a South African phenomenon. In many capitals across the globe, Taiwan is in the commercial cities, not some South African exceptionalism.

“Even in Washington, they are not there. So it’s not a South African phenomenon. It’s a global phenomenon in line with the UN protocols, the Vienna Convention.”

The facts

In fact, Taiwan maintains offices in many capitals of the world, including Moscow, New Delhi, Brasilia – and Washington, DC.

The Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement responding to Lamola’s “false claims that Taiwan’s representative offices around the globe are situated in commercial cities, that no Taiwanese representative office existed in Washington, DC, and that the act of unilaterally compelling the relocation of Taiwan’s representative office in South Africa was therefore part of a global phenomenon in line with UN protocols and the Vienna Convention.

“These claims were intended to justify South Africa’s unilateral abandonment of a 1997 bilateral agreement that would downgrade Taiwan’s representative office by renaming it the ‘Taipei Commercial Office’ and wrongly force the office to move.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa) strongly refutes Minister Lamola’s claims, which not only contradicted reality but also highlighted South Africa’s grave lack of knowledge and misunderstanding of the international situation.

 “When Taiwan has established a representative office anywhere in the world, the office has been established in the capital city in accordance with both international norms and bilateral agreements signed with the host country. 

“In the United States, for example, in addition to the operation of Taiwan’s representative office in Washington, DC, local exchanges are promoted by 12 other offices spread across the nation.

“Mofa strongly urges Minister Lamola to recognise Taiwan’s interactions with other countries, stop spreading false information that may mislead the international community, return to a position of rationality and reality, and engage in negotiations with Taiwan on an equal and respectful footing.

“At present, Taiwan’s representative office in South Africa is maintaining normal operations in the capital of Pretoria and continues to provide necessary services to its nationals, including businesspeople and overseas compatriots.” 

Daily Maverick asked Lamola’s spokesperson to comment on Lamola’s assertion that Taiwan did not have an office in Washington.

“He meant it’s not an embassy,” he replied. DM