Chris Louw
SOUTH AFRICA will decide before the end of the year on=20 assuming diplomatic relations with the giant People’s=20 Republic of China. Early indications are that Taiwan=20 will be told to close its embassy in Pretoria.
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, reacting to a=20 report in last week’s M&G, said his department was=20 under no illusion that “this very important matter”=20 will have to be resolved soon.
He implied that “international precedents” would=20 probably determine the government’s ultimate decision.=20 These “precedents” include the recognition by the=20 United Nations in 1971 of Beijing as the only=20 legitimate government of the whole of China, including=20 the island of Taiwan.
China — a trusted ally of South Africa’s liberation=20 movements during the struggle against apartheid — has=20 in recent weeks been tightening the screws on Pretoria=20 to come to a final decision. South Africa has had no=20 diplomatic contact with China since the Communist Party=20 took control of the government in Beijing in 1949.
Although it has always been official ANC policy to=20 break off diplomatic relations with Taiwan, promises by=20 the rulers of the island republic of huge financial=20 assistance to the government’s Reconstruction and=20 Development Programme (RDP) have apparently led to a=20 split in the ANC.
One faction wants the status quo to be maintained for=20 “pragmatic reasons”. Another faction, supported by=20 Pahad, regards the present situation as an “inheritance=20 of the previous regime’s foreign policy” and believe=20 diplomatic ties should be taken up with China — one of=20 the five superpowers of the world — as a matter of=20
A visiting all-party foreign affairs committee from=20 parliament — led by the ANC’s Raymond Suttner — was=20 told in Beijing this week in no uncertain terms that=20 maintaining diplomatic relations with both China and=20 Taiwan was out of the question.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen told the group on=20 Tuesday: “There is only one China in the world. The=20 government of the People’s Republic is the legal=20 government of that China, and Taiwam forms part of it.”
Suttner’s committee will return to South Africa this=20 month still, and will visit Taiwan in September before=20 drawing up a report.=20
They will not make the same mistake as ANC stalward=20 Walter Sisulu some three years ago, when he was invited=20 by China to commemorate their national day on October=20 1, and then immediately left for Taiwan to attend the=20 island republic’s national day celebrations on October=20
At the time, China was furious about what was regarded=20 as a diplomatic slap in the face. However, sources=20 close to the Beijing government told the M&G this week=20 it was soon realised the blunder was due to “naivete”=20 rather than with “malicious intent”.
Suttner’s committee will report back to Parliament on=20 its return from Taiwan. Pahad said a final decision=20 would be made by Cabinet before the end of the year.=20 Breaking diplomatic relations with Taiwan, he said,=20 would not affect economic ties with the Taiwanese.
However, his department has been informed by both=20 Taiwan and China that the nature of future economic=20 relations would be determind by the way the decision on=20 diplomatic ties goes. “For this reason, we cannot delay=20 a decision much longer.”
China at present enjoys diplomatic relations with 160=20 countries, including Britain, France and the United=20 States. Taiwan, on the other hand, is only recognised=20 by 28 countries, of which South Africa is the richest.