Why Taiwan's role as a red line in China's foreign policy is crucial for South Africa's diplomatic stance.
Image: IOL
By Paul Tembe
The People’s Republic of China (PRC), like all countries in the world, has specific national guidelines and regulations that relatively define its people, cultures and civilisation. Since the 1978 reform and opening policy, China has become more open society accessible to all who wish to engage with its rich 5,000-year-old history. To its credit, modern China is a signatory to an array of multilateral institutions and multiple regional, continental and global treaties. Its active participation in shaping and guiding global affairs has sizeably contributed to promoting win-win outcomes and shared responsibility for the global community of nations.
One underlying factor that has driven the PRC on its peaceful development to the world centre-stage is the ‘One China Policy’. In essence the One China Policy stipulates that, “there is but one China in the world; Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The one-China principle is the political foundation on which China establishes and develops bilateral relations with 183 countries”.
It then comes as a surprise and a confusing one at that, when a respected member of the South African parliament decides to take an invitation and visit Taiwan and thereby risking turmoil in South Africa’s 26-year China-South Africa relations.
Why should the worrisome saga of a Member of Parliament from one on the Government of National Unity be material for news? Why should one bother to analyse consequences of such a mishap both with the context of South Africa as a nation and its standing in the world? Lastly, why should one bother with what others may refer to as China’s domestic matter?
Any strong sovereign country has a right to limit and delimit the do’s and don’ts of its foreign policy. China is not different to other global states in this regard. Similar to other nations and states, China welcomes engagements and debate on contentious issues, be they in regard to human rights, death penalty, LGBTQ+, including social and governance matters. What would be counter-productive and irresponsible is to prescribe what should be the foreign policy of the PRC.
In short, China cannot allow interference into its internal affairs. The Taiwan issue is acknowledged by the world besides some opportunistic forces as a red line that one may not cross when dealing with the One China Policy. One China Policy has since the inception of the People’s Republic of China become a foundation and ethos of the unification of China. It is therefore comprehensible given that rattling and being in denial of the One China Policy consist and is tantamount to an invasion to the sovereign of the People’s Republic of China. Disregard of the One China Policy consist a breach of principles upon which China-South Africa relations have its foundation. Insistence to visit Taiwan by officials of a given country under the guise of being a private matter is absurd as it disrespects the very foundation of South African foreign policy.
RSA’s foreign policy is based on the principles and practices of: Pan-Africanism; South-South solidarity; Non-alignment; Independence; and Progressive internationalism. These policy prescripts are themselves anchored in the pursuit of global solidarity, social justice, common development, and human security.
These policy prescripts have a historical reference as when in 1950 Premier Zhou Enlai declared, “the principle that Taiwan is part of China is not only a historical fact but it is also affirmed by the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Declaration, and the conditions after Japan's surrender”.
Practically, the driving motif behind China-South Africa relations is bound in their common understanding and joint promotion of a multipolar world instead of unipolar one, cooperation instead of rabid competition, mutual respect, win-win cooperation and partnership of equals.
This is a reason why South Africa, working with other Global South partners, is committed to mitigate and eventually eliminate tensions in the cross-Strait relations. As such, the results of the recent Taiwan elections are a moot point since Chen Binhua, the spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, stated that these results cannot shake the fact and future direction that Taiwan is part of China. As such, a practical first step towards a realization of the One-China Policy lies within the principle of和平统一、一国两制_国家制度 (Hépíng tǒngyī, yīguóliǎngzhì_guójiā zhìdù); i.e. Peaceful Reunification, One Country, Two Systems_National System.
Related to this is the necessity to ask two questions:
Fortunately, the PRC can count on the RSA as a friend-in-all-weathers and partnership of equals. This explains the evolution of the RSA-PRC relationship, from 2004 as a ‘strategic partnership’ to being upgraded in 2010 to a ‘comprehensive strategic partnership’.
Since then, the two countries have enjoyed excellent mutual benefits founded on partnerships of equals with President Xi Jinping playing a tremendous role in promoting those relations, which have grown from strength to strength with each of his visits to South Africa. Relations and cooperation between the two countries, whether in trade, economics, human development, or culture, are not founded on the usual preconditions of relations with Western nations.
As South Africa-China bilateral relations hit the 25th anniversary mark, the two partners enjoy an all-round strategic cooperative partnership in the new era underpinned by a new Ten-Year Strategic Programme of Cooperation (2020–2029). China and South Africa’s collaborations have moved beyond formal bilateral relations to include regional and multilateral cooperation to advance the agenda of the Global South.
Moving forward, what will build these relations even stronger has been stipulated by President Xi’s 2013 Four-Point Proposal which cites ‘sincerity’, ‘real outcomes’, ‘affinity’, and ‘good faith’ as principles or rules of engagement aimed at enhancing further cooperation between China and Africa. Finally, as South Africa reaffirms its commitment to the One China policy, actions by individuals (politicians) that threaten China-South Africa relations ought to be reprimanded and regarded with caution. China continues to reiterate its respect and support for South Africa’s efforts to safeguard its national interests and socio-economic development and to better the livelihoods of its citizens.
* Paul Tembe is a Sinologist by training and the founder of SELE Encounters.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.