Taipei: Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Wednesday expressed gratitude to U.S. House Representative Chris Smith for his condemnation of South Africa’s nominal downgrading of Taiwan’s representative offices in the country. MOFA spokesperson Hsiao Kuangwei relayed that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung welcomed Smith’s remarks and reiterated Taiwan’s call for South Africa to honor the bilateral agreement established in 1997.

According to Focus Taiwan, South Africa has twice requested Taiwan to relocate its office from the capital, Pretoria, starting in October 2024. During ongoing discussions, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) altered the name of Taiwan’s office on its website to “Taipei Commercial Office,” categorizing it under international organizations. This change was formalized on July 21, with the renaming of the offices to the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.”

Smith, who serves as the chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, criticized these actions during a congressional hearing on the U.S.-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act of 2025. He emphasized that South Africa’s retroactive change of the office name, originally agreed upon by both sides, was against the 1997 agreement and an unacceptable alteration of the status quo.

Smith also raised concerns about potential pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its human rights record, urging South Africa not to succumb to CCP influence. Representing New Jersey’s 4th District, Smith is set to co-chair a Congressional-Executive Commission on China hearing titled “Stand with Taiwan: Countering the PRC’s Political Warfare and Transnational Repression” on Wednesday (U.S. time).