Taiwan says it will cut its diplomatic ties with South Africa on December the thirty-first -- a day before Pretoria switches diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

Taiwan says its current embassy in Pretoria will become a Liaison Office to maintain substantial relations with South Africa.

A Taiwanese foreign ministry official Timothy Yang said the arrangement was not entirely satisfactory from Taiwan's point of view but that it had to be accepted.

South Africa announced it would be recognising Beijing instead of Taipei last year, saying China's growing economy and international political status had made the switch inevitable.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 

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