THE brouhaha around the forced relocation of the Taipei Liaison Office from South Africa’s capital Pretoria to Johannesburg – about 50km southward – is completely misplaced.
In 1997, South Africa cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan when the Nelson Mandela administration embraced UN Resolution 2758, which is about the One-China Principle that recognises Taiwan as an inalienable and integral part of China.
In a widely circulated media statement the other week, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) revealed that the Taiwan authorities were given a six-month notice to move out of South Africa’s capital, which is home to the largest number of diplomatic missions in the world, second only to Washington.
Dirco’s statement read in part: “Relocating what will be rebranded as Trade Offices both in Taipei and Johannesburg, which is standard diplomatic practice, will be a true reflection of the non-political and non-diplomatic nature of the relationship between the Republic of South Africa and Taiwan.”
In addition, Dirco explained: “This also aligns with standard diplomatic practice that capital cities are the seats of foreign embassies and high commissions.”
Mandela set the tone and would surely approve of Dirco’s move. In his wisdom, Mandela had opted to embrace the universally accepted UN Resolution 2758. Dirco explained the decision to boot Taiwan out of the capital city thus: “This is consistent with Resolution 2758 of the United Nations General Assembly, which is widely adhered to by the international community.”
On balance of all factors, to be honest, therefore, Taiwan had overstayed its stay in Pretoria. Taipei’s privilege ended when Mandela’s government ceased to recognise Taiwan’s mission as neither a high commission nor an embassy back in 1997.
The hullabaloo that has followed Dirco’s decision is unjustified, unfair, and ill-advised. That some third-party country had attempted to dissuade Pretoria from ejecting Taiwan out of the capital is a disgrace, to say the least. It seeks to undermine South Africa’s sovereignty.
For nearly three decades, Taiwan has lived on a diplomatic privilege on a pure technicality.
South Africa’s foreign policy is premised on the notion and ethos of national interest.
Over the past 14 consecutive years, China has been South Africa’s biggest trading partner. South Africa was also the first country in the continent to benefit from China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The people-to-people diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Beijing, coupled with cooperation in various sectors such as military, commerce, health, and agriculture, among others, have cemented bilateral ties between the two allies that are a shining light in BRICS as well.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, has become a magnet for the entire international community, particularly in the area of manufacturing, imports, and exports of goods and services.
There is, however, a clear caveat in China’s cooperation with all nations. The recognition of the One-China Principle is a non-negotiable prerequisite.
In return, the geopolitical and economic spin-offs have been huge for China’s allies, especially South Africa. China is one of the only five permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power.
In addition, China has become a beacon of hope for the entire Global South and developing economies the world over.
China has breathed life into the aspiration of the developing world as a collective, showing that with a clearly mapped out trajectory to economic growth and development, nations can push back the frontiers of hardship, poverty, and unemployment.
Over the last two decades alone, China has managed to take a whopping 850 million-plus people out of poverty, making the 1.4 billion-strong nation an envy of the global community.
This has triggered the UN to heap praise on Beijing’s model of development. Today, it is a template that many nations are following. The success of China’s foreign policy is premised on non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. There is also a major emphasis on “win-win cooperation” and ideals for a “shared future”.
South Africa is the continent’s biggest economy and a major player in international affairs. Cooperation with China is key to South Africa’s role in geopolitics.
To recognise Taiwan for what Taiwan is – “an inalienable part of China” – is an obvious expression of wisdom and diplomatic foresight.
South Africa has taken the country’s leadership role on the continent seriously. For instance, at the recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Focac) summit that was held in Beijing, President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the importance of international adherence to the One-China Principle.
South Africa has done very well by sorting out the outstanding mess that is Taiwan’s lingering abnormal status.
Unlike some of China’s geopolitical adversaries, particularly in the West, South Africa has no interest in using Taiwan as a source of friction between Pretoria and Beijing, or Beijing and the world.
From now on, the downgraded or “rebranded” Taipei Trade Office will operate from South Africa’s economic hub of Johannesburg, just like other trade missions.
The erroneously extended operations of Taiwan in a capital city reserved only for high commissions and embassies have finally been corrected, and South Africa deserves great praise for that.
It has truly been an anomaly.
Now, as China works tirelessly towards reunification with the self-governing territory of Taiwan, South Africa will surely continue to play a meaningful role that seeks to remind the international community that Taiwan is not a country but a territory of China as defined by UN Resolution 2758.
As Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said last week: “The One-China Principle is the political foundation for China to establish and grow diplomatic relations with other countries in the world. It is also a universally recognised norm in international relations and where global opinion trends and the arc of history bend.”
Mao added: “We commend South Africa’s right decision to move the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa outside the administrative capital Pretoria.”
In the final analysis, nefarious foreign attempts to shore up separatists in Taiwan to pursue “independence” are doomed to fail. No one can slice up China and remove Taiwan from the rest of the Chinese body politic, geography and make-up.
* Abbey Makoe is founder and editor-in-chief of Global South Media Network. The views expressed here are his own.