Taiwan's foreign ministry is fighting back against an order from the South African government to move its office out of the administrative capital, Pretoria, and to Johannesburg.
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00:00Fighting an eviction notice, Taiwan's foreign ministry is insisting on its right to keep
00:05its representative office in South Africa's administrative capital, Pretoria.
00:09In October, the South African government requested that the office move to Johannesburg, its
00:13largest city.
00:15Diplomats and foreign policy experts say China is likely behind the decision.
00:20It's an all-too-familiar move.
00:21Although most countries have cut formal ties with Taiwan, Beijing is still irritated by
00:25Taipei's efforts to maintain informal ties.
00:29And in this case, Taiwan's foreign ministry is standing firm against the request.
00:33After we received a document from South Africa on October 7, Foreign Minister Lin Kyalong
00:39and the Asia-Pacific Division Director-General were summoned to represent South Africa to
00:43express their opposition, dissatisfaction and opposition to the government's decision.
00:47Taiwan's foreign ministry is getting support from some of the country's closest unofficial
00:51allies, including the U.S. and Japan.
00:54Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn called for the U.S. government to impose trade barriers
00:58on South Africa for working with the Chinese Communist Party to bully Taiwan.
01:03The Taiwan-Japan Exchange Association also received advice from Japan and the U.S. but
01:08did not provide specifics.
01:10And South African political parties like the IFP are also protesting their government's
01:15decision.
01:16The IFP is concerned by the impact such action will have on the bilateral framework South
01:25Africa has enjoyed with Taiwan for the past 26 years.
01:31South Africa switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China in 1997, but signed an agreement
01:36allowing Taipei to keep an office in Pretoria.
01:40It's typical practice for Taiwan to keep offices in the capitals of countries that it does
01:43not have official diplomatic relations with.
01:46The diplomatic space of the non-Pacific countries is very large.
01:51We should be able to use our economic and trade strength to negotiate with other countries.
01:56The foreign ministry has said they haven't ruled out forcing South Africa to move its
02:00own representative office out of Taipei.
02:02But with only a week left to negotiate before Pretoria says it'll shut Taiwan's de facto
02:07embassy down, Taipei might be left with no other choice than to move out.
02:12Patrick Chen and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.
02:16For more UN videos visit www.un.org