Ocean County Leader

Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey and chair of the House Foreign Affairs Africa subcommittee, has expressed concerns over South Africa's recent decision affecting Taiwan. The Republic of South Africa has reportedly reversed its agreement with Taiwan concerning the island nation's representative office in Pretoria.

Smith stated, "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."

In response to these developments, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has decided not to attend the upcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg. This decision is attributed to what Rubio describes as "ongoing abuses by the South African government," including property expropriation.

Despite these issues, Smith emphasized that there is still hope for maintaining good relations with South Africa. He noted last year's emergence of a coalition government as a positive development but expressed concern over recent actions by Pretoria. Smith suggested that one way for South Africa to improve its relationship with other nations would be "to cease doing the bidding of Communist China and return to the status quo ante with regard to its relations with Taiwan."