Taiwan Rejects South Africa’s Demand to Move de Facto Embassy From Capital

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said on Oct. 22 it has refused to move Taipei’s de facto embassy out of South Africa’s capital, Pretoria. South Africa’s foreign ministry, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, confirmed on Oct. 18 that it had requested Taiwan to rebrand the Taipei Liaison Office as a trade office and relocate from Pretoria to Johannesburg, which the department called the country’s economic hub. In response to Taipei’s criticism that South Africa is yielding to pressure from Beijing, the department explained that the request was made because the country does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and the move was meant to “correct the anomaly” of having the Taiwan office located in the capital city....