**ISTANBUL**
Taiwan has protested against South Africa’s “unilateral” decision to rename the “Taipei Liaison Office” as the “Taipei Commercial Office.”
The change was reflected on the website of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), according to Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry.
This comes as South Africa reiterated its demand that Taiwan move its office out of Pretoria by the end of March.
Previously, South Africa had set an October deadline for Taiwan to relocate the office and warned it would shut it down if Taipei did not comply.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung has instructed Taipei’s office in Pretoria to continue negotiations with South African authorities, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday.
“The two sides are currently exchanging views on the possible content of amending the legal framework of bilateral relations,” the statement said.
Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its “breakaway province,” had established its office in Pretoria under a 1997 agreement with South Africa.
“We have urged South Africa to speed up discussions with us on details such as the location, time, composition of the delegation and method of signing the agreement for the formal negotiations,” the statement added.
It also noted that the name change was made on the DIRCO website while negotiations were still ongoing and no consensus had been reached.
DIRCO cited the one-China policy and UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, which recognizes Taiwan as a province of China.
Taipei has maintained self-rule since 1949 and insists on its independence from Beijing.
On Monday, Beijing reiterated its stance on Taiwan, calling on UN member states to “strictly adhere to the one-China principle, safeguarding the political foundation of bilateral relations.”
"The one-China principle is a universally recognized norm of international relations and a prevailing consensus of the international community, serving as the political foundation for China to establish and develop relations with other countries. Taiwan is never a country, not in the past, and never in the future," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing.
Separately, China’s Ministry of State Security on Monday released profiles of four members of Taiwan’s Defense Ministry’s Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM), accusing them of carrying out cyberattacks against the Chinese mainland and spreading false information.
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