4 December 1996
Taiwanese Foreign Minister John Chang Hsiao Yen President met with President Nelson Mandela. While South Africa had maintained a friendly official relationship with Taiwan post-1994 and was duly rewarded with economic aid this changed in 1996. South Africa decided to move closer China as a partner in politics and economics. While Mandela tried to placate Hsia Yen with assurances that a high level relationship would still be maintained but not a diplomatic one the Taiwanese government was not impressed and cancelled thirty-six bilateral agreements, including a commitment to invest $5 billion in a South African petrochemical plant.
References
Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood|Denny Roy, 2002. Taiwan: A Political History. 1 Edition. Cornell University Press