The island’s foreign ministry confirmed on Monday that the South African government renewed a demand in late January asking the island to move its representative office out of Pretoria by the end of March.
“It is also seeking to downgrade the status of our representative office from the Taipei Liaison Office in the Republic of South Africa to a trade office,” the ministry said, attributing Pretoria’s move to “increasing Chinese suppression”.
The diplomatic dispute has been simmering since October, when Pretoria first requested the office be vacated. While Pretoria initially set a deadline for the end of October, it later agreed to suspend the demand pending further talks with Taiwan.
“Despite our ongoing negotiations, the South African government has renewed its demand for Taiwan’s representative office to vacate the capital within a set deadline,” the ministry said.
It suggested the renewed pressure was linked to Beijing’s growing influence over Pretoria, particularly after China put sanctions on Ivan Meyer, leader of South Africa’s second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance, in mid-January for visiting Taiwan.
Beijing accused Meyer of violating the “one-China principle” and interfering in China’s internal affairs.
The sanctions include bans on Meyer and his family travelling to mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as on them having any business dealings with Chinese entities.
