Caught Between Two Chinas: Assessing South Africa's Switch from Taipei to Beijing

Abstract

President Nelson Mandela was confronted with a vexing foreign policy problem immediately upon taking power in 1994 - how to balance South Africa's formal diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC) - a state of affairs inherited from the apartheid government - with the demand of the People's Republic of China's (PRC) that it be acknowledged as the sole government of China. This article draws on archival records and interviews with officials in the Mandela administration to shed light on the texture and timing of the Mandela administration's China choice. This analysis reveals the range of historical, economic, personal and political factors that contributed to the Mandela administration's initial effort to adopt an unprecedented two Chinas policy. It then explains why South Africa abruptly abandoned this dual China approach and switched recognition from the ROC to the PRC.