《TAIPEI TIMES》 US lawmakers condemn S Africa’s demand

By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

US senators and representatives this week criticized the South African government for bowing to China’s will and urged it to renounce its “misguided action” to order an “unnegotiable” relocation of Taiwan’s representative office from Pretoria to Johannesburg.

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“I call on South Africa and [South African] Minister [of International Relations and Cooperation] Ronald Lamola to reverse this misguided action, reevaluate their relationship with the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], and return to a true stance of nonalignment,” US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul wrote on X.

McCaul also said that Pretoria’s move is a clear result of CCP coercion and “brazen interference into affairs of other nations.”

US Senator Marsha Blackburn on Monday wrote on X that “the United States should not tolerate” South Africa’s collaboration with communist China, urging US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the administration of US President Joe Biden to “make it clear there will be consequences if Pretoria works with the CCP to bully Taiwan.”

“South Africa’s aggression against Taiwan on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party is deeply disturbing and inappropriate,” US Senator Tom Cotton wrote on X.

US Representative Michelle Steel said South Africa should reverse its action, respect “the wonderful people of Taiwan,” and stand up to the CCP’s intimidation campaign.

US Representative Carlos Gimenez said on X that the US Congress rejects South Africa’s “pathetic attempt to bully our dear friend, Taiwan” and urged a full review of US-South African relations for Pretoria’s succumbing to Beijing’s demands.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung （林佳龍） on Monday said there are no plans to relocate the office and that Pretoria’s demands were unreasonable.

The ministry has urged Pretoria on multiple occasions to renounce such decisions that could significantly harm bilateral relations, Lin said.

South Africa on Oct. 7 issued a request via e-mail to Taiwan to move its representative office out of Pretoria, the country’s administrative capital, by the end of this month, adding that the move was “unnegotiable.”

The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation said it had given Taiwan a “reasonable” six-month grace period to conduct the relocation from Pretoria to Johannesburg.

The South African ministry said this was the diplomatic custom, as Taiwan and South Africa severed official diplomatic ties in 1997.

South Africa is not the first country to have asked Taiwan to relocate its representative office. The Nigerian government made a similar demand in 2017 and forcibly evicted Taiwanese representatives and staff from the office in June that year.

Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES