Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that the South African government has repeatedly ignored Taiwan’s calls and cooperated with China to pressure the Taiwan representative mission to rename, relocate, and downgrade, in addition to delaying visa issuance to Taiwanese official personnel, posing a threat to Taiwan’s national security and public security. Therefore, the Ministry announced the implementation of export controls on 47 products including chips exported to South Africa.
The announcement stipulates that exports of these 47 items to South Africa require prior approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and that “license issuance will be suspended until the aforementioned hazards disappear.” An unnamed Taiwanese official confirmed that a temporary, complete export ban will be implemented with a 60-day notice period, with implementation expected as early as the end of November. Exports will still be permitted during the notice period. The official stated that the export suspension is a strong warning, and the announcement includes semiconductors, chips, memory, solar cells, and modules.
Taiwan’s TSMC produces most of the world’s most advanced chips, which are crucial for cars, artificial intelligence and industrial production. Automotive-grade chips are critical to South Africa’s strategic automobile industry roadmap.
In response, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Taiwan authorities’ relevant measures will not have any substantial impact on related industries in South Africa, but will only backfire.
However, China’s localization rate of domestic automotive-grade chips is currently about 15 percent. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology requires that the proportion of Chinese domestic procurement of automotive-grade chips reach 20-25 percent by 2025.
Sources:
1. Lianhe Zaobao, September 24, 2025
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20250924-7563226
2. Lianhe Zaobao, September 24, 2025
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20250924-7560993