Lamola says SA maintains its independent foreign policy position on Taiwan office relocation

ActionSA Parliamentary Chief Whip, Lerato Ngobeni has slammed the South African government for its insistence that the Taiwanese Liaison Office (TLO) be relocated from Pretoria to Johannesburg.

Ngobeni says this decision by government is driven by questionable motives as it also undermines the principles of mutual respect extended to all foreign representatives.

This comes after the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Ronald Lamola responding to Ngobeni's Parliamentary question revealed that the relocation of the Taiwanese Liaison Office (TLO) from Pretoria to Johannesburg is to ensure that South Africa maintains its independent foreign policy position while reaffirming China's sovereignty over Taiwan.

"It (the decision) reflects its long-standing commitment to the one China policy, aligning with most nations in recognising China's sovereignty over Taiwan as only 12 countries recognise Taiwan as separate from China," the minister stated.

Despite the March 31 deadline, the Taiwan embassy in Pretoria remains operational, more than two weeks after the deadline for its relocation from Pretoria to Johannesburg.

According to the Taipei Times, the Taipei government is still awaiting a response from the South African government regarding its demand that Taiwan's representative office be relocated from Pretoria and renamed by the end of this month, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

This week, in his response, Lamola indicated that this relocation will also present Taiwan with better opportunities as Johannesburg is the country's economic hub, stating: "Johannesburg, a thriving economic hub, is ideally positioned to foster productive economic collaborations. South Africa is committed to strengthening its non-diplomatic ties with the Island, focusing on lucrative areas such as trade, investment and education," he added.

However, responding to the minister Ngobeni stated: "The government’s actions reflect conduct that undermines the principles of mutual respect and diplomatic courtesy that should be extended to all foreign representatives. This is especially important in relation to those who have maintained friendly diplomatic ties and beneficial trade relations with our Republic—partnerships we must safeguard in an increasingly volatile global environment," Ngobeni said on Wednesday.

Following the minister's response in Parliament, this week, the party said it is not convinced by the reasons given by SA government in this regard.

"ActionSA believes that any such behaviour stands in direct contradiction to the principles of mutual respect and cooperation that South Africa champions on the global stage. We urge government to realign its engagement on this matter in a manner consistent with this diplomatic framework," Ngobeni added.

IOL reported that the South African government through its Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) recently downgraded the Taiwan office from TLO to Taipei Commercial Office (TCO).

The South African government had initially ordered Taiwan to move its Pretoria office to Johannesburg in October 2024, but talks between the countries resulted in a new date of end of March being set.

Last month, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) revealed that while the impending relocation of the Taiwan office had been set in stone, Taipei indicated that this might take longer than expected due to budgetary constraints.

Attempts to get further comment on the pending relocation from DIRCO were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.

However, last week, DIRCO spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri indicated that the downgrade and relocation were due to the 1997 decision by SA to cut ties with Taipei in order to ensure a non-political and non-diplomatic engagement between the two nations.

"The decision to relocate the TLO from Pretoria is an independent foreign policy position. It reflects its long-standing commitment to the One-China Policy, aligning with most nations in recognising China's sovereignty over Taiwan," Phiri stated.

Repeated attempts to get comment from the TLO office were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za