Taipei backtracks on South Africa chip controls in tussle over representative office

Island suspends export curbs after Pretoria says it wants to talk a dispute over Taipei’s de facto embassy

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Taipei’s controls on exports to South Africa were due to come into effect in November. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:00pm, 26 Sep 2025Updated: 8:17pm, 26 Sep 2025

Taiwan has reversed its semiconductor export controls on South Africa just two days after it announced them in protest over Pretoria’s push to relocate Taipei’s representative office.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Thursday that following discussions with the foreign ministry, it had decided to suspend its first unilateral chip curbs on a foreign government.

The export controls unveiled on Tuesday were set to come into effect in late November and would have required prior approval for 47 products – including semiconductor wafers and memory chips – to be shipped to South Africa.

Taipei’s foreign ministry said the South African government wanted to discuss the Taipei office dispute.

The diplomatic dispute has been simmering since October last year, when South Africa requested that the office in the administrative capital, Pretoria, be vacated and another opened in the commercial hub of Johannesburg.

The initial deadline was the end of October, but Pretoria later agreed to suspend the demand pending further talks with Taipei.

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Taipei backtracks on South Africa chip controls in tussle over representative office

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Island suspends export curbs after Pretoria says it wants to talk a dispute over Taipei’s de facto embassy

Island suspends export curbs after Pretoria says it wants to talk a dispute over Taipei’s de facto embassy