TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The United States, Japan, and other democracies are backing Taiwan in its dispute over the location of its representative office in South Africa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday (Oct. 22).

South Africa wants Taiwan to move its office from the capital of Pretoria to the business center of Johannesburg by the end of October. The demand has been widely seen as the result of pressure from China.

Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Monday (Oct. 21) condemned the issue as a unilateral breach of a framework signed between Taiwan and South Africa in 1997. He said Taiwan was not planning to move its office and could close down the South African mission in Taipei.

At a MOFA news conference Tuesday, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association (TJRA) Secretary General Fan Chen-kuo (范振國) said countries sharing common ideals with Taiwan were providing significant assistance in the case, per CNA. He could not reveal details about the nature of their assistance.

Most democracies agreed with Taiwan that South Africa’s demand was unreasonable and illegal, said MOFA Spokesperson Jeff Liu (劉永健). He said Taiwan had repeatedly told the South African government it would not accept a forceful move out of Pretoria.