Press Release

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Africa subcommittee and co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, made the following statement on news that the government of the Republic of South Africa was reneging on its prior agreement with Taiwan regarding the island nation’s representative office in South Africa:

                “The South Africa government’s recently announced deadline forcing Taiwan (Republic of China) to move its de facto embassy out of the capital city of Pretoria—done at the apparent behest of the Communist Chinese government and in apparent violation of its agreement with democratic Taiwan—sends a very negative signal to the United States and the democratic world.

                “Secretary of State Marco Rubio just announced that he will not be attending the G20 Summit in Johannesburg precisely because of ongoing abuses by the South African government, including the expropriation of private property. 

                 "We still hope for good relations with South Africa, and saw the emergence of a coalition government last year as a positive sign.  But right now we are seeing a series of negative, backsliding steps taken by Pretoria which cast a pall on our relationship.  One way to correct that perception is for the South Africa government to cease doing the bidding of Communist China and return to the status quo ante with regard to its relations with Taiwan.” 

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