On this Day in Chinese History; 5 December

This day, 5 December, in 1996, South African President Nelson Mandela wrote to Chinese President Jiang Zemin, stating that South Africa would end its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan on 31 December, 1997, pointing out in the letter that it was the right time for South Africa to follow international practices and achieve a smooth transition to the normalisation of relations with the People’s Republic of China.