China on Friday lauded South Africa for pushing Taiwan’s representative office out of capital Pretoria, state media reported.
“We appreciate South Africa's correct decision to move,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.
Beijing’s comments came in response to reports that South Africa has given an ultimatum to Taipei to move its office out of the capital Pretoria by the end of October.
The South African foreign ministry said Friday that it had given Taiwan a “reasonable” timeframe of six months to relocate its “liaison office” to the commercial hub of Johannesburg .
The decision was communicated to China last month by South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola when he was in China for the China-Africa summit, the ministry said.
South Africa severed formal diplomatic ties with the self-governing island of Taiwan — over which China claims sovereignty — in 1997, but has an unofficial diplomatic relationship with it, as do many countries.
It has been pushing Taiwan to move its office since last year, citing UN Resolution 2758 and the "one-China principle."
One-China principle
“The one-China principle is a universally recognized norm in international relations and reflects the will of the international community and the trend of the times,” Mao said.
China claims Taiwan as its “breakaway province,” and expects its diplomatic allies to have no official contact with Taipei.
While Taipei has insisted on its independence since 1949, number of its diplomatic allies has dropped to 12 this year.
“The pursuit of ‘Taiwan independence’ is doomed to fail,” Mao claimed.
Upgraded ties
Taiwan has sought support from G7 nations without any success against Pretoria's plans.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung has asked his ministry to consider "appropriate responses," including asking South Africa to relocate its office in Taipei
Last month, China and South Africa upgraded their bilateral relationship to an “all-round strategic cooperative partnership.”
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