Taiwan will lodge a formal protest with South Africa over the designation of Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" in the country's Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on July 28.

Although Taiwanese travellers are not yet eligible to use the ETA system, the online application lists Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" in the drop-down menu for the passport country of issue.

According to Focus Taiwan, the nation has repeatedly objected to the use of such terminology, arguing that it wrongly implies the island is part of the People's Republic of China and diminishes its status.

South Africa introduced the ETA system in October 2025 as part of the Department of Home Affairs' phased digital transformation.

The system is currently available only to travellers from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico entering through selected South African airports. Pretoria plans to extend it to additional tourist and business travellers.

In response to an inquiry, the ministry said Taiwanese citizens travelling to South Africa must still apply for a physical visa through the Liaison Office of South Africa in Taiwan, Pretoria's de facto embassy in Taipei.

MOFA said it had instructed Taiwan's representative office in Pretoria to submit a formal protest and request that the designation be changed.

Taiwan faced a similar dispute with South Korea last year after Seoul's online electronic arrival card system initially listed Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in the drop-down menus for the place of departure and next destination fields in early 2025.

South Korea later removed the last point of departure and next destination fields from the system to resolve the dispute.

Taiwan may face a more difficult response from South Africa as bilateral relations remain strained. In late 2024, Pretoria sought to reclassify Taiwan's representative office as a trade office and relocate it to Johannesburg, the country's commercial hub.

The office remains in Pretoria and continues to operate. However, South Africa has renamed it the Taipei Commercial Office on the website of its Department of International Relations and Cooperation, and no negotiations have been held to resolve the issue.