The Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa is operating normally pending further negotiations after Pretoria demanded it move out of the administrative capital, although a delegation from Beijing visited the country shortly after the original relocation deadline passed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Last month, South Africa demanded Taiwan relocate its liaison office from Pretoria to Johannesburg before Oct. 30, although it later agreed to negotiate on the matter.
With the support of many like-minded countries as well as political figures in South Africa, the office continues to operate normally pending further negotiations, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Counselor on Home Assignment Wang Wen-lin (王文麟) said after he was asked about the matter at a regular news briefing in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
However, the ministry and office have also prepared response measures for different scenarios, he added.
During the sensitive negotiations, the Chinese government sent a delegation led by Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee member Li Xi (李希), who is also secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, to visit South Africa from Nov. 5 to 7, Wang said.
“Their purpose was likely to again pressure the South African government to force our office to relocate,” he said.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s relentless pressure on other countries’ governments to suppress Taiwan demonstrates its hegemony, which raises alarm among democratic countries,” he said.
“Under the principle of equal dignity, the ministry would continue to endeavor to understand the South African government’s thoughts on its relationship with Taiwan and exchange ideas with it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ministry congratulated Somaliland president-elect Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi on his election victory earlier this month.
Somaliland’s electoral commission on Tuesday last week announced that Abdullahi, leader of the opposition Waddani party, won the Nov. 13 election.
“The ministry expresses sincere congratulations to the Republic of Somaliland for again successfully holding its presidential election and to Abdullahi for winning,” Wang said.
The Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland had already, on behalf of the government, expressed blessings to Abdullahi on his election victory, he said.
The office also expressed the hope that by building on the nations’ good relationship in the past few years, Taipei and Hargeisa would continue to deepen bilateral cooperation, he added.
Taiwan and Somaliland set up official representative offices in each others’ country in 2020, and have cooperated in areas such as public health, information and communications, agriculture, education and resource development, he said.
“The ministry also hopes to work with the new government led by president-elect Abdullahi,” he said.
Asked about possible collaborations with Somaliland’s new government, Wang said the Taiwan Representative Office in Somaliland has kept in contact with the Waddani party.
During the election, Abdullahi, who is a former speaker of the Somaliland House of Representatives, said he would continue the country’s relations with Taiwan, Wang said, adding that in addition to their cooperation in different areas with Hargeisa, Taiwan also has two major infrastructure projects under way in Somaliland.
One of the projects is “Taiwan Road” linking Somaliland’s international airport and downtown Hargeisa, while the other is the “Taiwan Medical Center” to help improve medical services and public health in the country, he said.
Preparation for the two projects has been completed, and construction is expected to start after the new administration takes office, he said.
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