South Africa backs off Taiwan office removal deadline, talks ongoing

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) South Africa's government has backed off its original Oct. 30 deadline for Taiwan to move its office in Pretoria elsewhere, and negotiations regarding the future of bilateral relations are still ongoing, a Taiwanese diplomat said Tuesday.

Wang Wen-lin (王文麟), an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of West Asian and African Affairs, said that before a mutually agreed conclusion is reached, Taiwan hoped its representative office could remain in Pretoria.

Oct. 29: South Africa to discuss ties in wake of office relocation order: MOFA

Wang made the remarks during a MOFA weekly news briefing when asked by reporters to comment on the latest developments in the case.

MOFA said last month that the South African government demanded that Taiwan relocate its representative office out of its administrative capital, Pretoria, allegedly due to pressure from China, by the deadline of Oct. 30.

Taiwan, however, refused to abide by the "unilateral decision," Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has said, citing a 1997 agreement between the two countries signed before the end of official diplomatic relations in January 1998.

The agreement stipulated that Taiwan would continue to operate a liaison office in Pretoria despite the end of official diplomatic ties. South Africa is also allowed to have a presence in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, according to Lin.

MOFA later said in late October that South Africa had decided to hold discussions with Taiwan on bilateral relations after Taiwan declined to comply with a request that it move its representative office from Pretoria by the set deadline.

According to Wang, the South African government took the initiative in retracting the Oct. 30 deadline, due to efforts made by Taiwan's government and like-minded countries that have embassies in South Africa.

Asked about a senior Chinese official's recent visit to South Africa and if it meant the People's Republic of China (PRC) was still pressuring the African country to ask Taipei to relocate its office, Wang told reporters such a scenario was highly likely.

But Wang said the office continues to operate, and it is Taiwan government's stance to keep it that way unless a mutually agreement conclusion has been reached on the location of the Taipei office.

Li Xi (李希), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town on Nov. 6 as part of an official visit to South Africa.

Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu (吳志中) said that the United States, United Kingdom and Japan had voiced support for Taiwan in the case, the Chinese-language Liberty Times reported on Tuesday.

In a statement on Oct. 18, South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said the severing of diplomatic ties with Taiwan was "consistent with resolution 2758 of the United Nations General Assembly, which is widely adhered to by the international community."

"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 South Africa and Taiwan," DIRCO said in the statement.

Adopted in 1971, Resolution 2758 resulted in Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China (ROC), losing its seat at the U.N. to the PRC, but it did not mention Taiwan or the Republic of China by name.