On
January 1, 1998, South Africa and the People＊s Republic of China entered a new
phase in their ancient relationship with the conclusion of formal diplomatic
relations. Not only did that day mark the beginning of a new and cordial formal
diplomatic relationship between the peoples of our two nations, but it also
recalled the long history of mutual benefit and respect which has characterized
the interaction between our peoples.
Today,
South Africa and China enjoy a dynamic and vibrant bilateral relationship. On
the political level, we have reached important milestones, such as the Pretoria
Declaration, which articulates the importance that both our countries attach to
the bilateral relationship. At the economic level, we enjoy a very rapidly
growing relationship. Our bilateral trade is showing a very healthy annual
increase, and leading South African companies and industrial giants are
capitalising on the power of China＊s economic growth by investing in China and
by playing an active role in the Chinese economy. An important objective for us
all is to establish a trade regime which will facilitate and encourage a
mutually beneficial relationship in the spirit of South-South cooperation. Our
cooperation, however, is not limited to these spheres. We have very active
interactions on a wide variety of disciplines 每 ranging from the peaceful
utilisation of nuclear energy, mining and water resources, to culture and human
resource development.
On
the multilateral front, South Africa and China share many objectives and common
positions. This is very notable in our frequent common positions in the WTO
(especially the G-20 after Cancun) and in the United Nations Organisation.
Moreover, the China-Africa Cooperation Forum 每 young as it may be as an
institution 每 has already provided us with a platform to further develop the
relationship between the African lions and the Chinese dragon. One of the most
important outcomes of the dialogue that underpins the Forum is our agreement on
China＊s unambiguous support for NEPAD (the New Programme for Africa＊s
Development) and the noble objectives of the African Union.
But
our relationship is not really a new phenomenon. Since her establishment in
1949, the new China played a high profile role in supporting the liberation of
Africa. China was one of the leading nations at Bandung in 1955, where Asia and
Africa declared solidarity in the desire to build a new order, free from
enslavement and subservience. This solidarity will be reaffirmed next year, with
the 50 Years Commemoration of the Bandung Conference, when the next AASROC
conference will be arranged.
In
reexamining history, we learn that as early as 1320, the Chinese cartographer
Zhu Siben produced a map accurately showing the southern tip of Africa 每 that
is more than 150 years before the Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Diaz could
enthral Europe with the same discovery! The ※Da Ming Hun Yi Tu§ of 1402每
of which a copy hangs in the South African Parliament＊s Millennium Project by
the kind courtesy of the First Historical Archives of China 每accurately
depicts the African sub-continent with its inland waters 每 and even shows the
Gariep (Orange River) flowing westward. Credible evidence is mounting that the
famed Ming explorer Zheng He＊s Treasure Fleets indeed rounded the Cape of Good
Hope by the 1420s, as an extension of the robust trading and diplomatic
interaction between China and the East coast of Africa.
Evidence,
however, exists of an even older interaction between the peoples of South Africa
and China. At the site of Mapungubwe 每 an ancient civilisation in South
Africa＊s north, pottery fragments of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) were
excavated. Ironically, history also shows us (as so eloquently researched in
Melanie Yap and Diane Man＊s history of the Chinese in South Africa) that the
first persons of Chinese origin to settle in the Cape in modern times, were also
the victims of colonialism 每 the European occupation of both the East Indies
and of the Cape, since the Dutch East Indian Company conveniently used the Cape
as a penal settlement for criminals, political exiles and ※other
undesirables§ from East Indies. The first such exile arrived in the cape in
1660, and whom, after falling foul of the law again in the cape, was banished to
Robben Island. This infamous gaol incidentally also became the detention station
for Chinese who fell foul of the colonial government in the Cape with the
adoption of the racialist Chinese Exclusion Act in 1904. By 1905, the Qing Court
had appointed a Consul in Cape Town to take care of the growing number of
Chinese who had by then settled in southern Africa, as well as the growing
number of Chinese junks rounding the Cape with cargoes bound for Europe.
Chinese
South Africans also fell victim to the racialist policies which came to dominate
South Africa. They also suffered from the bigotry and inhumanity of apartheid
每 and the denial of those eternal rights to human dignity and equality.
As
such then, it is very appropriate to also celebrate in China our Ten years of
Freedom in South Africa. Not only did the dawning of freedom in South Africa
bring democracy and human rights to those of us who trace our history to the
African continent; it also brought human dignity and emancipation to the
countless others who have come to call South Africa 每 this beautiful land 每
HOME!
In
celebrating South Africa＊s Decade of Freedom, we also commemorate the enduring
relationship between South Africa and China. We will cast a glance not only on
the ancient ties which bind us 每 but, more importantly, look firmly ahead at
the bright future our relations hold.
H.E. Thema MN Kubheka