Mthobeli Jiwulane
Taiwan or the Republic of China, as it is officially known, is yearning to be readmitted as a member of the United Nations but China has been the stumbling block for Taipei’s dream being realised since Beijing replaced it as official representative of China at the world body in 1971.
But South Africa is in a unique position to have good ties with both Taiwan and China save for the fact that Beijing is blocking Taipei from being accorded fully fledged embassy status by South Africa, which is its close ally and fellow member of the BRICS bloc at the same time enjoying good business links with the West which backs Taiwan. We interviewed the outgoing Taiwanese ambassador and Representative of the Taipei Liaison Office in South Africa, Anthony Ho, about the China rivalry and Taiwan’s determination to strength ties with South Africa.
As Taiwan’s Ambassador to South Africa, I am very proud of Taiwan and proud of being a Taiwanese.
I would like to use three quotes to explain how Taiwanese people fight for their survival and strive for the continuous development of the country.
“They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds.”
My country the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912 on the mainland China. It was the first democratic republic in East Asia. In 1949, the ROC government relocated to the island Taiwan after losing the civil war to the Chinese Communist Party, which occupied the mainland China and founded the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
To distinguish ourselves from the PRC, we later referred ourselves as Taiwan but ROC is still our official name in the constitution.
Since 1949, the PRC never renounced the use of force against Taiwan although the PRC never governed Taiwan for one single day. I use a famous Indian quote to describe Taiwan’s situation between 1949 and 1980—“They tried to bury us but they didn’t know we were seeds.” That is to say, the PRC tried to terminate the ROC, but we continue to grow and even blossom and bear fruits.
China continuously attacked Taiwan with military power during this period. For example, in 1958, the PRC launched more than 1 million shells from Xiamen to Quemoy in 40 days. The event was dubbed the Quemoy Bombardment.
At the same time, Taiwan also faced obstacles in the international society, as more and more countries recognized PRC instead of ROC as the official representation of China. In 1971, PRC took ROC’s seat as one of the members of the United Nations Security Council. As a result, the ROC (Taiwan) was forced to leave UN. Since then, Taiwan was not allowed to attend any UN-affiliated organizations and activities.
By deliberately conflating its “One China” principle with the UNGA Resolution 2758—the resolution that determined who represents “China” in the organization some 50 years ago—Beijing is misleading the world by spreading the fallacy that Taiwan is a part of the PRC. Contrary to these false claims, the resolution does not take a position on Taiwan, nor does it include the word “Taiwan.” The long-term status quo is, the ROC (Taiwan) and the PRC are separate jurisdictions, with neither subordinate to the other. The people of Taiwan can only be represented in the international community by their free and democratically elected government.
The wrongful interpretation of UNGA Resolution 2758 has long deprived Taiwan of the right to participate in the United Nations and its specialized agencies, and it has also denied the international community of an opportunity to benefit from Taiwan’s contributions. Worse yet, the PRC’s efforts to rewrite Taiwan’s status at the UN further undermine global peace and stability. Beijing’s recent dangerous military manoeuvres surrounding Taiwan is a case in point.
It is clear that China never stopped its attempt to annex Taiwan in both diplomatic and military battlefields. Nevertheless, Taiwan survived and was getting ready to blossom.
“Every life will find its way out”
I will use a classic line from the movie Jurassic Park, “Every life will find its way out” to describe Taiwan between 1980 and 2000. During this period, Taiwan focused on economic industrialization and political democratization.
On the economic front, Taiwan became one of the four Asian Tigers during this period, which are Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. In 1996, Taiwan transitioned to a full-fledged democracy and the people directly elected their president for the first time. Taiwan became both an economic and democratic model in Asia.
“I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”
After the year 2000, Taiwan enters another phase, which I use a quote from the poem Invictus, which Madiba (Nelson Mandela) often quoted as well—“I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul,” to describe this period of time.
As China also grew stronger and increased its suppression to Taiwan, Taiwan strived to enhance our base and maintain our freedom, democracy, economic development and way of life. We continued to expand our economy as you can see, Taiwan’s GDP per capita grew from US$2,300 in 1980 to US$33,000 in 2021. The GDP PPP was over US$60,000 last year. Taiwan’s development in economy, education, healthcare, technology makes Taiwan a key contributor in the international community.
Beijing continues to conduct military coercion around Taiwan, undermining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, escalating tensions, impacting international trade and transportation, and putting regional peace and security at risk. Acquiescing to China’s wrongful claims over Taiwan will only destabilize the region, which is also against the very purpose of the UN.
Taiwan will resolutely defend its sovereignty and security. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will also continue to exercise restraint in response to China’s provocations, and work together with like-minded countries to uphold peace and stability in the region. And as we have shown the world over the years, we will continue to fulfill our international responsibilities by actively engaging with and contributing to the international community. Such as participation of ICAO, Taiwan manages 18 Flight Information Regions and around 72millions passengers flew by those FIRs yearly, and INTERPOL, Taiwan should not be an empty area for outlaws due to political reason. As UNFCCC, Taiwan is committed to combating climate change, with a blueprint for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and policies in place to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Taiwan matters for the world. Taiwan plays a vital role in the international supply chain of high-tech product, especially semiconductors, manufacturing about 70% of semiconductors in the world. I went to this year’s Africa Aerospace and Defense (AAD) show Waterkloof last week. Many aerospace and defense manufacturers from Europe and Africa greeted me and told me that most of the microchips in the products they produced are made in Taiwan. .
There has been a shortage of automobiles since the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the shortage of chips. German Economy Minister wrote a letter to Taiwan’s Economic Minister, requesting Taiwan increase its production of chips used for German car manufacturers including BMW and Mercedes Benz. Automobile makers including Toyota and Ford also made similar requests to semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan.
According to the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), Taiwan’s democracy ranks No. 1 in Asia and No. 8 in the world. The Freedom House ranks Taiwan one of the freest countries in Asia.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), Taiwan ranked globally No. 4 in terms of competitiveness, only next to Germany, the US and Switzerland. While the pandemic raged around the world over the past two years, Taiwan’s economic growth ranked first among Asian countries. Taiwan was the world’s only major economy to experience positive growth. Its economic growth rate last year was 6.45 percent, an 11-year high. Four of the Top ten IC design companies in 2021 are Taiwanese companies.
It is worth mentioning that Taiwan shared hundreds of thousands of PPEs, including medical masks and medical equipment to more than 100 countries, including South Africa. Taiwan also joined international efforts to help the settlement of Syrian refugees in Turkey and Jordan. In addition, in light of the recent Russia-Ukraine conflict, Taiwan donated more than US$30 million to help Ukraine refugees.
All the above-mentioned demonstrated that Taiwan never bowed to the pressure from China and continued to be a responsible stakeholder of the international community despite being excluded from the UN and other international organizations. That is why I said I am proud of Taiwan and proud of being a Taiwanese.
(Taiwan and South Africa relation-VIP and HEALTH relationship)
I have been in South Africa for 4 years. I served as the DCM (Deputy Chief of Mission) in the first 2 years and was assigned in March 2021 to be the Head of Mission, Taiwan’s Ambassador to South Africa. I am convinced that Taiwan and South Africa can and should be each other’s VIP.
I have a strong conviction that Taiwan and South Africa can be each other’s VIP, not only “very important person” but also “Valuable and Indispensable Partners”. Taiwan and South Africa share values of freedom, democracy and human rights. The two countries both spare no efforts in promoting democracy in its respective continent. In Africa, countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique are going through democratization and South Africa can be a role model for other countries in democratization. On the other hand, Taiwan continued to work together with many countries in the Asia Pacific on issues related freedom, democracy and human rights.
In terms of being “indispensable” to each other, economy, investment and technology are pillars of President Ramaphosa’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan and National Development Plan 2030. Sharing Taiwan’s strengths in these areas with South Africa will greatly benefit people from both sides.
I believe Taiwan and South Africa can deepen their relations in areas of “HEALTH”—each letter stands for one area.
H stands for humanitarian assistance. Ubuntu is a spirit highly valued in South Africa which means that “I am because you are, or I am because we are.” That is to say, I will only feel good when you are good. The spirit taught us that we need to work together to provide assistance for those who need help.
During my tenure, working together with local political leaders, I travelled to almost every province in South Africa to share food parcels, medical masks, sanitary pads and essential items with more than 25,000 the under-privileged communities. I treasure the opportunity to personally meet them and get to know them and the community they live in.
The second letter E stands for education. Education is the foundation of a nation for its continuous development. In the past five years, my office offered scholarship to more than 80 South African students for them to pursue an academic degree or to learn language in Taiwan. Many other South African students applied scholarship from individual universities and colleges and went to study in Taiwan.
In this year alone, six MOUs or MOAs were signed between universities and vocational schools in Taiwan and South Africa. For example, based on the freshly signed MOU between University of Limpopo (UL) and Taipei Medical University, two faculty members from UL are currently studying for Ph.D. degree in Taiwan in medical science on full scholarship. Wits University also concluded MOUs with two universities in Taiwan. Pretoria Vocational High School formed partnership with one of the best vocational school in Taiwan as well. We can expect that there will be many more academic exchanges and cooperation following these agreements.
The third letter A refers to Agriculture. Taiwan is strong in applying technology to agriculture. South Africa is also a leader in agriculture in Africa. Our two countries have a framework of cooperation, which the competent agencies hold regular meeting to exchange information and experience so we can learn from each other.
The fourth letter L refers to leisure, or tourism. Currently more than 8000 South Africans residing in Taiwan, and about 5000 of them work as English teachers. I believe that those English teachers are the best tourism ambassadors of South Africa to Taiwan. Taiwan is dedicated to promoting English education in primary school and junior high school and hopes to transition itself to a bilingual country by 2030. A friend of mine told me that his children studies English in an after-school program and the teacher is from South Africa. The teacher liked to use photos taken in the Kruger National Park to teach students vocabulary like giraffe, lion, and zebras. In that way, students learned that South Africa is a beautiful country they would like to visit in the future. Based on the estimate that each English teacher has 40 students, the 5,000 teachers will be able to introduce South Africa to 200,000 students, that is, 200,000 families. If each family consists of 4 members, these 200,000 families will bring 800,000 tourists to South Africa. Then it is reasonable to estimate that, if each tourist spends R10,000 for transportation, accommodation and other purchases during their visit, there will be at least R8 billion potential revenues for South Africa.
The fifth letter T stands for Trade. The population of Taiwan is only one-third of South Africa, but Taiwan’s GDP is US$ 689 billion in 2021, compared to US$420 billion in South Africa. South Africa is Taiwan’s 31th trading partner. Promoting trade is one of my major responsibilities. Our economic division is doing its best to engage with business associations here and find the most profitable products to create more business opportunities between our two countries.
The last letter is H, it stands for High Tech. Progressing its technology with the trends of the 4th Industrial Revolution is a major policy of South Africa. As a major supplier of semiconductors in the world, Taiwan can work together with South Africa to advance our high-tech capacity and develop relevant industries.
In addition to the six letters, HEALTH itself is also an area Taiwan can cooperate with South Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that the world has to come together to prevent the next pandemic. Public health and medical experts from Taiwan and South Africa can exchange and share their views and experience in these areas.
Taiwan is also a front-runner in women’s empowerment. Taiwan elected the first female head of state among Mandarin-speaking countries. There are around 42% MPs in Taiwan’s Parliament is women.
In the past two years, we formed partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Women’s Development Bank and many other NGOs to help women in rural areas to gain access to economy, education, healthcare and technology.
I think Taiwan and the South Africa should work closely. There are 800 Taiwanese companies in South Africa, investing more than US$ 2 billion. These companies created more than 40,000 job opportunities for South Africans. A famous African proverb says that “if you want to walk fast, walk alone, If you want to walk far walk together”. I believe with a little more ambition and creativity, South Africa and Taiwan, if work closely, can walk both fast and far.