{"id":838217,"date":"2025-09-23T12:54:22","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T10:54:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=838217"},"modified":"2025-09-23T14:35:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:35:51","slug":"south-africa-hit-with-restrictions-after-pushing-taiwan-too-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/838217\/south-africa-hit-with-restrictions-after-pushing-taiwan-too-far\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa hit with restrictions after pushing Taiwan too far"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Taiwan has imposed restrictions on the export of chips to South Africa over national security concerns, taking the unusual step of using its dominance of the market to pressure a country that\u2019s closely allied itself with China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taiwan now requires pre-approval for the bulk of chips sold to the African nation, its trade regulator\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mofa.gov.tw\/News_Content.aspx?n=95&amp;s=120300\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>\u00a0in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The decision emerged after Pretoria sought to downgrade Taipei\u2019s representative office and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mofa.gov.tw\/News_Content.aspx?n=95&amp;s=119073\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">force<\/a>\u00a0it to relocate to Johannesburg from the capital, Taiwan\u2019s foreign ministry has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mofa.gov.tw\/News_Content.aspx?n=95&amp;s=120300\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move reflects both the island\u2019s economic clout and a growing frustration with getting sidelined by Beijing in the diplomatic community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. makes the majority of the world\u2019s most sophisticated chips, essential to cars, AI and industrial production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa began pressuring Taiwan to relocate its embassy from Pretoria to Johannesburg in 2023, shortly after hosting a BRICS summit attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, a Foreign Ministry official in Taipei previously told Bloomberg News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa is intensifying its request as it prepares to host the Group of 20 leaders\u2019 meeting in November that Jinping is expected to attend. Pretoria severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe South African government\u2019s actions have undermined our national and public security,\u201d Taiwan\u2019s International Trade Administration\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eportal2.moea.gov.tw\/EE100\/board\/view.htm?action=attachment&amp;boardId=1140923152749054&amp;attachId=2&amp;t=1758618835623\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>\u00a0in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are adopting measures to restrict trade to maintain our sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TSMC representatives didn\u2019t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa reiterates that its ties with Taiwan are non-political, said foreign ministry spokesman Chrispin Phiri. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSouth Africa is a critical supplier of platinum group metals, like palladium, essential to the global semiconductor industry. Our current economic diplomacy is fundamentally shifting how we engage in the global value chains.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Phiri added that Africa\u2019s biggest economy intends to move beyond an extractive model to one of strategic value-add. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis means building advanced industries at home, transforming raw materials into high-value products. This pivot secures a more resilient supply chain for the world and unlocks advanced, sustainable growth, and job creation for South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A trade ministry spokesman didn\u2019t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Taiwan has imposed restrictions on the export of chips to South Africa after Pretoria tried to downgrade its representative office and force it out the capital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":838218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[23673],"class_list":["post-838217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-taiwan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838217"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838226,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838217\/revisions\/838226"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}