South African History Online

Address to Beijing University

Beijing, 6 May 1999

President of the University of Beijing;
Members of faculty and
students;
Distinguished guests.

I was honoured indeed in 1992 by your award to me of an honorary degree. It
is an exceptional, and indeed unique, privilege to be invited today as an
honorary alumnus to address members of this distinguished institution of
learning.

The occasion is unique not so much because this is probably the last address
before I retire from public life I shall be giving to an institution of learning
that has honoured me with a degree; on what is almost certainly the last State
visit that I shall be making during the life of South Africa's first
democratically elected government.

If I may add something on a personal note, I must say that at a personal
level these facts do remind me with some finality that I shall be entering the
new millennium without a job. I am not sure how many universities will then want
to be lectured by an old man, even a former President, with nothing to show but
his age!

What I wish to say is that the occasion is not unique because of these facts
I have mentioned. Rather, every single such occasion - and there have been many,
over many years, in many countries involving every kind of institution,
organisation and sector of society - is unique.

Each one involves a relationship between peoples, in this case the people of
South Africa and the people of China.

Each occasion expresses an affinity between ideals, such as those of the
tradition of learning embodied in Beijing University, and the people of South
Africa's quest for justice and freedom.

In each occasion there is an affirmation that by together advancing knowledge
we can extend the frontiers of human freedom.

Each such occasion is a celebration of solidarity, such as the unwavering
political, diplomatic and material support of the Chinese people and government
for South Africa's struggle for liberation.

Each occasion is a tribute to the people of South Africa for their
achievement in making a reality of shared principles and ideals.

And each is a commitment to a partnership for development and reconstruction.

And yet, unique as this relationship between two countries may be, it is also
shaped by general factors which define the challenges facing humanity as our
century draws to a close.

With democracy, South Africans gained the chance to address the basic needs
of all our people, especially the poorest of the poor. In doing so we are guided
by the experience of all peoples. It is, that if we are to build a democracy
worthy of the name, then we shall have to ensure that it brings real material
improvements in the lives of the majority of South Africans whose poverty is the
legacy of their oppression.

Our freedom will remain fragile and our rights empty shells if millions of
South Africans continue to be cursed by the legacy of homelessness and hunger,
ill-health and illiteracy. We have made remarkable progress in improving the
lives of our people, but it will take many years to complete the task.

All this requires a strong economy and sustained growth. That in turn defines
a set of challenges that we share with many nations, indeed with the world as a
whole. They arise from the interdependence of our economies, and a global
economic system which sees a widening gap between the richer and poorer parts of
humanity.

We must ensure that globalisation benefits not only the powerful but also the
men, women and children whose lives are ravaged by poverty.

Solutions to these problems cannot be achieved by any nation or region on its
own. Rather we must ensure that the multilateral institutions which regulate
international trade and investment, are redirected so that they better reflect
the needs of developing countries. South Africa as the current chair of the
non-aligned Movement and your own country in the "G77 + China" are able to make
a special contribution.

There is a second set of important global challenges and they concern peace
and security.

Here too a multilateral approach is required. In the wake of a devastating
conflict that inflicted enormous economic damage and cost millions of lives the
United Nations was established as a world body responsible for collective action
for the resolution of conflict.

What is happening in relation to Kosovo, in these final years of the
twentieth century, is deeply disturbing. On the one hand human rights set out in
the Universal Declaration of Rights are being violated in ethnic cleansing. On
the other hand the United Nations Security Council is being ignored by the
unilateral and destructive action of some of its permanent members. Both actions
must be condemned in the strongest terms.

This is a matter that troubles us not only because of its immediate impact.
Like the challenge of development, it raised questions about our international
institutions. Can the world afford, at the end of a century that has seen so
much pain and suffering, to risk damaging the authority of the world body that
has the task of maintaining international peace and security on the basis of
respect for the sovereignty of nations!

Ladies and Gentlemen; As well as being members of the international
community, China and South Africa also relate to one another as countries of
Africa and Asia, as continents whose ancient civilisations and ties of trade and
commerce were disrupted when the destinies of our continents and their peoples
were subordinated to the interests of more powerful colonial forces.

Today a new Asia is emerging. Africa is renewing herself. As they do so a new
relationship between Africa and Asia must take shape. For that to happen the new
world order will have to emerge to promote equity; to safeguard world peace; and
to reflect the democratic norms of our age in the decision-making structures of
world-bodies. In particular the threat of Africa's marginalisation must be
removed.

China's potential contribution, as one of the world's largest economies and a
leading figure in world affairs, cannot be exaggerated. Within the modest limits
of its own capacities, South Africa is committed to working with China towards
these goals.

But we must also elaborate our friendship in strong all-round bilateral
relations. On that score we can proudly say that in our five years of democracy,
ties between South Africa and China have grown stronger and broader. We are
building a constructive partnership.

Ladies and gentlemen. I have used this opportunity to raise some of the
challenges we face as we enter the new millennium. Such difficulties remind us
that many of the hopes of fifty years ago are still to be realised.

This is not to advocate despair. It is in the first instance to urge that we
safeguard the advances that the world has made towards our shared ideals in
particular we should protect and improve the means for collective and
multilateral approaches to our problems. The best that any generation can expect
to achieve is to make progress towards meeting the challenges that face it and
provide stepping stones for those who follow.

The many encounters I have had on occasions like this all confirm what we
experienced during our struggle: whenever the need or opportunity arises the
peoples of the world reach out to one another in the name of a common humanity.

The advancement of knowledge and science defines one such global arena where
men and women can work together to contribute to human freedom in its fullest
sense of a better life for all humanity.

We therefore call on you, as intellectuals, to help formulate policies that
will help realise these ideals.

In particular, help us make a reality of the new relationship between Africa
and Asia!

Together, let us concretise the constructive partnership between China and
South Africa!

I thank you once more for the honour you have done me.