No Longer "Out of Africa"-- An Interview with ROC Ambassador to SouthAfrica Wang Fei

The ROC Ambassador to South Africa, Wang Fei, has risen in the Foreign Ministry from a secretary to the head of the Chicago office of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs to director of the department of European affairs to ambassador to Swaziland, political vice-minister, and now to the RSA.

Ambassador Wang was interviewed by Sinorama at the Embassy in Pretoria.

Q: Among the ROC's 27 diplomatic partners, African countries take a considerable proportion. Could you speak about our connection to Africa?

A: As early as the 1960's, we began technical assistance to Africa. The assistance was quite effective. But after we left the UN, most of our friends in Africa were unwilling to continue diplomatic relations. Our influence withered between 1960 and 1970. We only had formal relations with South Africa, Swaziland, and Malawi. But in the past year of or two, we have established relations with Liberia, Lesotho, and Guinea-Bissau. Generally speaking, African countries are rather poor and foreign debt is heavy. Only South Africa has abundant resources.

South Africa is an important ally of ours. Relations have been increasingly close since 1976 [when the consulate was upgraded to an embassy]. Areas of cooperation include economics, trade, culture, agriculture, technology, and communications. Trade has constantly increased. However we did not stress [economic relations] in the past because of international demands to participate in the economic boycott of South Africa. But in recent years quite a few Chinese have gone to South Africa for investment, mainly in the four independent homelands. There have been approximately 180 companies, because the investment environment is good, labor costs are cheap, and the government gives some assistance to foreign investment.

Also, in the past overseas Chinese in South Africa suffered from apartheid restrictions. Recently, because Sino-South African relations are friendly, plus the efforts of the embassy, the status of overseas Chinese has improved. In the 1984 revisions of the racial laws, Chinese received equal status with whites in politics and society.

Q: What have the most important factors been in the development of relations between the two countries?

A: The ROC and South Africa are both strongly anti-communist and respect freedom and democracy. The economic situations are complementary. South Africa has important resources, and has an important strategic position in the free world. Both of us have met difficulties internationally. But South Africa also is implementing some reforms. You can see the sincerity of the ruling party, though the road is long and [change] cannot be achieved overnight.

Q: For many years our relations with South Africa have been hush-hush because of the international boycott. What about now?

A: In the past, the boycott of South Africa was not completely fair. It stands to reason that when a country faces internal difficulties, and has certain historical factors, if you completely look at it as an outsider and hope to solve this country's problems, it is not very fair. Most important is to see whether the country is sincere in reforming the current situation.

Moreover, a boycott will not necessarily encourage internal reform. If the result is economic collapse, then those who really suffer are the ordinary people. In the past our government of course did not approve of the apartheid policy, but did not believe boycott to be a good method. Our attitude in treating friends is how to help their country to improve.

Q: Some people describe the ROC and South Africa as "only those in the know can appreciate one another."

A: Our difficulties are not the same. In the past people described our situation as "commiseration among two people with the same disease." In fact, our "illnesses" are different, but our international situations are both very difficult.

Q: As a diplomat, what changes have there been in your international and domestic responsibilities?

A: No matter whether home or abroad, the mission is still the same: to do things for your country. At home I was the political vice minister, and the work responsibilities were more broad. In South Africa, I basically hope to win more space for the country. Of course, we have formal diplomatic relations with South Africa, so the task is how to consolidate these relations; not only to maintain connections, but to strengthen them.

Q: Recently, many Chinese have gone to South Africa as tourists or to invest. What's the reason?

A: South Africa has diplomatic relations with us. Of course, its natural scenery is beautiful, and the land is large and rich, with many things to see. But the main reason is still that the government is friendly to us. Given this situation, Chinese will come here. I think the trend in the future will be to have more and more tourists, and many will come to check out the investment environment. Many people think of violence when they hear of South Africa, but really it's not this way.

Q: Do you have any advice for investors or tourists?

A: The administrative system of South Africa is very special. The administrative capital is Pretoria, Capetown is the parliamentary capital, and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital. Johannesburg is the business center, and Durban is a major port. These are all worth seeing. But best are the national animal reserves. They are 3/4 the size of Taiwan.

For investors, South Africa greatly welcomes investors from the ROC. I think now there are quite a few companies especially in the four independent homelands. The homelands have gone to the ROC to hold discussions to attract investment. We have an investment association here to provide information. Currently types of investment are moving away from labor intensive to higher tech industries like electronics. I feel this is an ideal place to invest.

Q: Recently fishing boat incidents have raised many disputes. What should we do to resolve this?

A: What makes people really upset is that after the great effort all these years to build friendly relations, this series of incidents makes us feel embarrassed. For example, after the government grabbed some gill net boats, the [RSA] government was lenient because of our friendly relations. But the violations continued, and the government, press, and especially environmentalists asked, "How could the ROC do such a thing?"

The reason for frostbite is lack of care; maybe no one told the seamen what to do properly. But the captains also complain, why don't their Filipino or Malaysian crew get frostbite? But still our fishing agencies must tell boat owners to be especially careful. Operators can't just look after their own interests, and not prepare for occupational injuries or look after the image of the country.

Q: Many of our allies are poor nations, and need our economic assistance. Some commentators describe this as "buying allies." What's your view?

A: We are willing to help our allies, and there's nothing wrong with that. In the past we received US aid, and it helped the country improve. We provide some economic and technological assistance; you can say it's "accumulating merit." If you've got the ability, helping others is a wonderful thing.

[Picture Caption]

Wang Fei at the ROC Embassy in Pretoria.

In East London, RSA, a lot of Taiwan businesses have set up shop, with most being labor intensive industries.

The biggest regret about overseas Chinese planting roots in South Africa is that the next generation is poor at Chinese.

Talking about recent fishing disputes, Ambassador Wang feels quite distraught.

Agricultural technical aid to several African allies has already borne fruit.

South Africa has a lot of things worth seeing. The national animal preserves are can't-miss locations.

It's not often that you see this smiling face in the media.

The gates of Taiwan investments in South Africa are full of Chinese ambience. If you didn't see the workers, you'd never believe you were another country.

In East London, RSA, a lot of Taiwan businesses have set up shop, with most being labor intensive industries.

The biggest regret about overseas Chinese planting roots in South Africa is that the next generation is poor at Chinese.

Talking about recent fishing disputes, Ambassador Wang feels quite distraught.

Agricultural technical aid to several African allies has already borne fruit.

South Africa has a lot of things worth seeing. The national animal preserves are can't-miss locations.

It's not often that you see this smiling face in the media.

The gates of Taiwan investments in South Africa are full of Chinese ambience. If you didn't see the workers, you'd never believe you were another country.