South Africa says Taiwan's representative office must leave the country's administrative capital Pretoria. Sources say the government has highlighted the "one-China principle" as being behind its decision.
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00:00It's a diplomatic blow.
00:02South Africa says Taiwan's representatives in the country are no longer welcome in administrative
00:06capital Pretoria.
00:08They'll have to move to the country's largest city, Johannesburg.
00:11It's only 50 kilometers away, but in diplomatic terms, this is a banishment.
00:17Diplomats and foreign policy experts say China, which claims Taiwan, is behind the decision.
00:22Though most countries have cut formal ties with Taiwan, China is still irritated by the
00:26network of representative offices Taiwan uses to keep up informal ties with countries
00:30like South Africa.
00:57And China is especially strong in Africa, where only the Kingdom of Eswatini maintains
01:03formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
01:05In 2017, another African country, Nigeria, also expelled the local Taiwan office from
01:10its capital.
01:12Taiwan may retaliate for this latest slight.
01:26Possible measures include making South Africa's office in Taiwan leave Taipei, stricter visa
01:34inspections for South Africans, cutting education exchanges temporarily, or scaling back the
01:40number of South Africans allowed to teach English in Taiwan, now around 5,000.
01:45But South Africa isn't the only place where Taiwan's diplomacy faces pressure.
01:49China has also warned India to be careful about its approach to Taiwan, after Taiwan
01:53opened an office in Mumbai, its third in India.
01:57With China constantly at work to undermine them, Taiwan's diplomats continue to face
02:01an extra layer of challenges when representing the country.
02:04Fu Hua-hong and John Ventriest for Taiwan Plus.