South Africa Expels Taiwan Representative Office From Pretoria

TaiwanPlus News

South Africa says Taiwan's representative office must leave the country's administrative capital Pretoria. Sources say the government has highlighted the "one-China principle" as being behind its decision.

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00:00It's a diplomatic blow.

00:02South Africa says Taiwan's representatives in the country are no longer welcome in administrative

00:06capital Pretoria.

00:08They'll have to move to the country's largest city, Johannesburg.

00:11It's only 50 kilometers away, but in diplomatic terms, this is a banishment.

00:17Diplomats and foreign policy experts say China, which claims Taiwan, is behind the decision.

00:22Though most countries have cut formal ties with Taiwan, China is still irritated by the

00:26network of representative offices Taiwan uses to keep up informal ties with countries

00:30like South Africa.

00:57And China is especially strong in Africa, where only the Kingdom of Eswatini maintains

01:03formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

01:05In 2017, another African country, Nigeria, also expelled the local Taiwan office from

01:10its capital.

01:12Taiwan may retaliate for this latest slight.

01:26Possible measures include making South Africa's office in Taiwan leave Taipei, stricter visa

01:34inspections for South Africans, cutting education exchanges temporarily, or scaling back the

01:40number of South Africans allowed to teach English in Taiwan, now around 5,000.

01:45But South Africa isn't the only place where Taiwan's diplomacy faces pressure.

01:49China has also warned India to be careful about its approach to Taiwan, after Taiwan

01:53opened an office in Mumbai, its third in India.

01:57With China constantly at work to undermine them, Taiwan's diplomats continue to face

02:01an extra layer of challenges when representing the country.

02:04Fu Hua-hong and John Ventriest for Taiwan Plus.

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