Foreign Minister Lin Jia-long says today that "there are no plans" to move
Taiwan's representative office in South Africa.

The South African government early this month called on Taiwan to relocate
its representative office from the capital Pretoria before the end of
October, allegedly due to pressure from China.


According to informed sources, the country requested that Taiwan's office
move from Pretoria to Johannesburg, and it also threatened to close the
office if the request was not followed.

Lin stresses that South Africa cannot unilaterally break its agreement signed
with Taiwan in 1997, and if South Africa is a country governed by the rule of
law, it should negotiate with us.


He also points out that since Chinese President Xi Jin-ping attended the
BRICS Summit in South Africa last year and up until the recent China-Africa
Cooperation Forum this year, China has been persistently exerting pressure.

He says Taiwan's office is currently operating as usual in Pretoria, adding
that his Ministry is closely monitoring the situation and will respond
accordingly.

(JL)