China Pressures Taiwan-South Africa Ties as Pretoria Demands Office Relocation

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan-South Africa ties are facing fresh tests amid mounting Chinese pressure on Pretoria. It's something some analysts see as part of a bigger process of China feeling out the new Trump administration in Washington — Taiwan's security guarantor.

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00:00China says Ivan Maier, chair of South Africa's Democratic Alliance Party, crossed a red line

00:05with a trip to Taiwan, and it's trying to make him pay a price.

00:10China claims Taiwan, and objects to any official visits to Taiwan by foreign officials.

00:16Maier and his family are now banned from China, a potentially awkward situation for the chair

00:21of South Africa's second biggest party, given China's status as South Africa's biggest

00:25trading partner and its clout across the African continent.

00:29But this is just one part of an ongoing pressure campaign aimed at pushing South Africa and

00:34Taiwan apart.

00:36Though South Africa's recognized China since 1998, it's agreed to let Taiwan keep up an

00:41unofficial liaison office, similar to the many other de facto embassies Taiwan has around

00:46the world.

00:47China has decided that arrangement's time is up.

00:50In an apparent response to Maier's sanctioning, the South African government's now repeating

00:54a demand it first made last year, that Taiwan move its office out of the capital, Pretoria.

01:00The new deadline is the end of March, and the office could also face downgrading in

01:04status from liaison office to a mere trade office.

01:09Taiwan's foreign ministry says it's already responding.

01:12After Foreign Minister Lin Jialong received a notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

01:15he immediately called on the Indian-China Coordination Group to discuss a way to respond, and during

01:21There is opposition from some corners of South Africa's political sphere, notably

01:39from other members of Maier's democratic alliance.

01:42MP Emma-Louise Powell has said the party will oppose any attempt to, as she put it, evict

01:47Taiwan's office.

01:49And the Inkatha Freedom Party previously voiced concern about what impact forcing Taiwan's

01:53office to move could have on the nearly three decades of unofficial ties Taiwan has developed

01:58with South Africa.

02:00Back in Taiwan, though, some see this diplomatic tussle as about more than just Taiwan and

02:04South Africa.

02:05There are even suggestions from some analysts this could be about testing the waters with

02:10a new Trump administration.

02:12How will the U.S., up to now Taiwan's security guarantor, react?

02:27If this analysis is right, the fight over Taiwan's South Africa office could turn into

02:32one more piece in the larger rivalry between the world's two biggest powers.

02:37John Su and John Ventriest for Taiwan Plus.

02:42For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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