Taiwan welcomes U.S. lawmaker's remarks on South African office issue

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Wednesday thanked U.S. House Representative Chris Smith for condemning South Africa's nominal downgrading of Taiwan's representative offices in the country.

MOFA spokesperson Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) told CNA that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) welcomed the Republican congressman's remarks and reiterated Taiwan's call for the South African government to uphold the spirit of a bilateral agreement made in 1997.

Lin called on South Africa to promptly engage in "dialogue with Taiwan based on the principles of equality and dignity" and to refrain from any unilateral action until a consensus is reached, Hsiao said.

According to MOFA, South Africa has twice asked Taiwan to move its office out of the capital, Pretoria, since October 2024.

While discussions were ongoing, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) changed the name of Taiwan's office on its website to "Taipei Commercial Office" and listed it under international organizations.

On July 21, South Africa formalized the change, renaming the two offices as the "Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg" and the "Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town."

Smith, who chairs the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, criticized those actions during a congressional hearing Tuesday on the U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025.

He said South Africa had retroactively changed the name "Taipei Liaison Office in the Republic of South Africa," which had been formally agreed on by both sides, and that any unilateral effort to breach the 1997 agreement or change the status quo was unacceptable.

Smith told the hearing that these actions also raised concerns about pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its human rights record, and urged South Africa not to yield to CCP pressure.

Representing New Jersey's 4th District, Smith is also scheduled to co-chair a Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing titled "Stand with Taiwan: Countering the PRC's Political Warfare and Transnational Repression" on Wednesday (U.S. time).