Mandela meets Taiwanese Foreign Minister

Date: 4 Dec 1996
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

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.

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How we know this

01Kalley, 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
02Denny Roy, 2002. Taiwan: A Political History. 1 Edition. Cornell University Press

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2015, December 4). Mandela meets Taiwanese Foreign Minister. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0100071

South African History Online (2015) 'Mandela meets Taiwanese Foreign Minister', South African History Online, 4 December. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0100071 (Accessed: 22 August 2026).

South African History Online, Mandela meets Taiwanese Foreign Minister [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0100071, (accessed 22 August 2026).

"Mandela meets Taiwanese Foreign Minister." South African History Online, 4 Dec. 2015, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0100071. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Mandela meets Taiwanese Foreign Minister." South African History Online. December 4, 2015. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0100071.