Six Republican members of the US House of Representatives have sent a letter to US President Donald Trump calling on Washington to revoke South Africa’s duty-free access to the US market and suspend diplomatic engagement over its demand that Taiwan move its liaison office from the administrative capital.
US representatives Andy Ogles, Tom Tiffany, Don Bacon, Joe Wilson, Randy Weber and Brandon Gill in the letter published on Tuesday cited South Africa’s “self-abasing advocacy” of the Chinese Communist Party, in addition to alleged human rights abuses and corruption, as being contrary to US national interests.
“The Republic of South Africa is in apparent need of a reminder of what happens when American interests are marginalized,” the letter said.
Photo: Screen grab from Google Maps
In October last year, several members of Congress wrote a letter to then-US president Joe Biden urging him to confront South Africa over the nation’s demand for Taiwan to relocate its representative office out of Pretoria, the letter said.
Although the South African government agreed to delay the relocation demand, it has renewed its request “at the behest of the People’s Republic of China [PRC],” it said.
Last month, South Africa’s government sent a letter to the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa demanding a move by the end of this month and announcing plans to downgrade it to a “trade office.”
“The PRC’s unabashed global commitment to Taiwan’s diplomatic marginalization, if successful, would provide every reason for the PRC to commit to an invasion of the island. This would be contrary to our national interest and the interests of those who prioritize peace over conflict,” the letter said.
If Trump were to follow the lawmakers’ recommendation, South Africa would lose preferential access to export duty-free goods to the US, among other trade privileges it has under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected South Africa’s unilateral decision to close the office and said it violates previous bilateral agreements.
It vowed to “continue to communicate with the South African government based on the principles of equality and dignity.”
Other US, UK and French lawmakers have also criticized South Africa’s decision.
Several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials including Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) are to be summoned for questioning and then transferred to prosecutors for holding an illegal assembly in Taipei last night, the Taipei Police said today. Chu and two others hosted an illegal assembly and are to be requested to explain their actions, the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng (中正) First Precinct said, referring to a protest held after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), KMT Taipei's chapter director, and several other KMT staffers were questioned for alleged signature forgery in recall petitions against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Taipei prosecutors had filed
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
NEW WORLD: Taiwan is pursuing innovative approaches to international relations through economics, trade and values-based diplomacy, the foreign minister said Taiwan would implement a “three-chain strategy” that promotes democratic values in response to US tariffs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said. Taiwan would aim to create a “global democratic value chain,” seek to capitalize on its position within the first island chain and promote a “non-red supply chain,” Lin was quoted as saying in the ministry’s written report to the Legislative Yuan submitted ahead of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee meeting slated for today. The Ministry would also uphold a spirit of mutual beneficial collaboration, maintaining close communication and consultations with Washington to show that Taiwan-US cooperation
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS