Malawi is small as African states go. Its slightly less than 50,000 square miles are tucked away in landlocked isolation on the eastern side of the continent. Tanzania is to the north, Zambia to the west, and Portuguese Mozambique to the south and east. Most of Malawi's long, narrow length stretches along the western shore of Lake Nyasa.
This country of nearly 4 million people gained full independence and British Commonwealth status on July 6, 1966. Formerly it was the British protectorate of Nyasaland and a member of the Federation of Nyasaland and Rhodesia. Although the climate is hot in the Great Rift Valley where Lake Nyasa is situated, much of Malawi is a highland at elevations of from 2,000 to 8,000 feet.
Malawi is an underdeveloped land both agriculturally and industrially. So far its outstanding product is a statesman-patriot, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who was born in Nyasaland in 1906 and was to become Malawi's first president. He went to the United States for higher education, studying at Wilberforce College in Ohio and then at the University of Chicago. He earned a doctorate in medicine and then continued medical studies in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was practicing medicine in London in 1945 when he dedicated himself to the African independence movement. His return to Nyasaland took place in 1953. He was arrested by the British in 1959. But the march to freedom was ordained and unstoppable.
Today's Dr. Banda is looking to both West and East for assistance in the development of a modern, progressive Malawi. His relations with the British continue to be good. The transition to independence was essentially peaceful. He has kept British civil servants in jobs that Africans are not yet ready to hold. For the inspiration of the Orient, he has turned to the Republic of China. A Chinese farm demonstration was dispatched to Malawi even before the achievement of full independence. In early August, Dr. Banda came to Taiwan for a week's visit.
Dr. Banda minced no words and stood on no euphemisms of diplomacy. At a press conference, he accused the Chinese Communists of trying to bribe him into giving Malawi recognition to Peiping. The first offer was £6 million; later the amount was raised to £18 million. "I turned it down," he said. "In order to let Red China know Malawi is always standing shoulder to shoulder with the Republic of China, I had to reshuffle my cabinet to expel all those leftists."
Airport Ceremonies
In one of the most forthright speeches ever given in free China, the Malawi chief executive praised President Chiang Kai-shek as the greatest leader in the world, said the United States should stay in Vietnam and bomb Hanoi into submission, and declared that the Chinese Communists cannot be admitted to the United Nations because (1) they are not qualified and (2) the Chinese are already adequately and legitimately represented by the Republic of China.
Dragon dancers performed for President Banda on his way from airport to Grand Hotel. (File photo)
President Banda arrived August 4 accompanied by a party of eight. President Chiang Kai-shek met the visiting chief of state at Sungshan Airport. A 21-gun salute echoed from the hills just to the north of the field. Dr. Banda then accompanied President Chiang in a review of the honor guard and shook hands with the assembled high Chinese officials and the members of Taipei's diplomatic colony.
"I am here," President Banda said, "to pay my high respects and admiration to President Chiang, who is the greatest statesman in the world today. He has been standing firm, leading his fellow countrymen on the anti-Communist front and safeguarding freedom for the free world."
President Chiang responded with a prediction that the visit would cement the friendship between the two countries. He said that Malawi and the Republic of China share the same ideals and are similarly dedicated to causes of freedom, justice, and peace.
Dr. Banda (standing, left) is seen inspecting the Chinese Navy at the Tsoying Base in southern Taiwan. Accompanying the African president were Gen. Kao Kuei-yuan, chief of the general staff (standing, right), and Adm. Feng Chi-tsung, commander-in-chief, Chinese Navy (seated, left). (File photo)
The two Presidents rode together to the Grand Hotel, where President Banda was housed in the Presidential Suite. At the hotel the visitor received Vice President C.K. Yen and Foreign Minister Wei Tao-ming. Mayor Henry Kao called to present the President with the key to the city of Taipei. In the evening, President Banda and his party were the dinner guests of Foreign Minister and Mrs. Wei. Accompanying Dr. Banda were Miss C. Kadzamira, his personal secretary; Miss E. Kazombo, his niece; Aleke Banda, minister of planning and development; M.L.Y. Kwengwele, member of parliament; J.R. Ngwiri, assistant secretary of external affairs; R. Manda, press officer; Harrison Chilela, leader of the Malawi Youth Corps; and Capt. Adamson Makonrola, the President's personal aide.
Exchange of Decorations
On the morning of August 5, President Banda went to the Presidential Office for an hour's talk with President Chiang. They discussed international affairs, including the China representation situation in the United Nations, events on the Chinese mainland, and the agricultural and industrial development of Malawi. President Chiang decorated President Banda with the Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Jade and received Malawi's Lion Medal, First Class. Also present at the summit meeting were Chinese Presidential Secretary-General Chang Chun, Foreign Minister Wei Tao-ming, Chinese Ambassador to Malawi Chen Yi-yuan, Malawi Minister of Planning and Development Aleke Banda, and Malawi Assistant Secretary of External Affairs J.R. Ngwiri.
Other events of Dr. Banda's second day in the Republic of China included the laying of a wreath at the Martyrs' Shrine in honor of China's war dead. He was accompanied to the tomb by Vice President C. K. Yen and Chief of the General Staff General Kao Kuei-yuan. The African leader also saw the Agricultural Exhibition Hall of the National Taiwan University and was briefed on the island's economic accomplishments by Vice President and Premier Yen at the Executive Yuan. President and Madame Chiang were the hosts for a state banquet at the Chungshan Building in the evening.
Dr. Banda wanted to learn as much about Taiwan agriculture and rural life as he could. The morning of August 6 he visited a typical farm and farmer's home and saw a rural health station. He was briefed by Governor Huang Chieh and met with members of a farmers' association at Taoyuan and learned what organization has done for those who till the soil. In the afternoon he visited the Sino-African Technical Cooperation headquarters and met participants in the current five-month seminar for African agronomists. His dinner host was Vice Foreign Minister Sampson C. Shen at the Hoover Theater Restaurant.
The Banda party flew south the morning of August 7. Accompanying the visitors were Economic Affairs Minister K.T. Li and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sampson Shen. They went first to Kangshan Air Base and then by car to the Tsoying Naval Base, where President Banda reviewed a military parade. The luncheon host was General Kao Kuei-yuan, chief of the general staff of the Chinese armed forces. In the afternoon President Banda continued onto the southern port city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest. He toured the Horticultural Experimentation Station at Fengshan and was the dinner guest of Minister K. T. Li at the Kaohsiung Grand Hotel.
Interest in Industry
The morning of August 8 was given over to an inspection of Kaohsiung industrial and harbor facilities. Of special interest was the new Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone, which combines the advantages of a free port with those of an industrial estate. President Banda also saw a lumber mill and other factory installations. He flew to Taichung in the afternoon to see Chinese pilots in scramble demonstrations at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base. He then returned to Taipei for Vice President C.K. Yen's dinner party at the Chinese Armed Forces Officers' Club.
Vice President C.K. Yen and Education Minister Yen Chen-hsing escorted Dr. Banda on a visit to the National Palace Museum in suburban Taipei the morning of May 9. After placing a wreath at the statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Malawi chief executive spent an hour and a half viewing Chinese art treasures and expressed regret he didn't have more time. He received a three-volume set of reproductions of Chinese paintings and pictures of the art masterpieces exhibited at the museum. In the afternoon he was briefed on the Chinese Communist turmoil on the mainland.
President Banda gave a state dinner to honor President and Madame Chiang Kai-shek in the Golden Dragon Pavilion of the Grand Hotel the evening of May 9. These are excerpts from the unofficial tape recording of Dr. Banda's address:
"I feel greatly privileged and honored in playing host to the great President of the Republic of China and his great and noble lady. I am playing host in a humble manner to the President, his wife, and members of the government of China. I am doing so because of my long-standing admiration for the President, his wife, and the people of this country.
"When I was leaving home last week, I knew that I would be received with kindness, courtesy, and honor. But I never realized the magnitude of the kindness, courtesy, and honor with which my party and I would be received in this country-not only by the President himself and his government but also by the people in Taiwan.
Like Old Friends
"It was only last Friday that I shook hands with the President and Saturday with Madame. But already I feel as if I'd known the President since I grew up. This is because of the way he and his government and the people of this country have received and treated me and my party. You know, in state visits or official visits of this kind, it is very often a matter of formal courtesies, formal politeness, diplomatic and tactical, as in commercial business. But this is not the case here now. From the way the President, his great lady, the ministers, and the common people are treating me and my patty, I can see in their faces that what they are saying to me and doing for me is genuine, from deep down in their hearts, and this is what makes me feel as if I were born and grew up here and had known the President, his wife, ministers, and the people that I see in the streets all my life.
Dr. Banda was surprised to find that many of the workers at Taiwan factories are girls. (File photo)
"When I was arriving, there were people lining the streets. When I was going south, there were people lining the streets. When I got to South Taiwan, there were people all along. Everywhere I was taken, the army and navy headquarters, air force bases, and farmers' associations and the ordinary farmers—because I went into the house of one or the farmers to see the grandfather, his children, and grandchildren—everywhere people received me and my party with genuine friendliness which I could read myself in their faces and on their lips when they were speaking to me or trying to speak to me.
"As the saying goes, seeing is truly believing. As I said the other day, I have read much about you, Madame Chiang. You may not remember all the matters about yourself, but apart from what I was told about your education, culture, and background of your family, you also impressed me by your sense of loyalty. I have read that when the Communists detained your husband (at Sian), you went there and refused to leave without him. That is the kind of loyalty which is always found in good women. You may not have noticed but we Africans are like that. A person shows loyalty when you are apparently down, you'll never forget. That is one of the things that appealed to me about you.
"The people of this country are most fortunate because the two of you are truly great leaders, a great woman, a great man, a great soldier, a great statesman, a truly great man.
Learning and Inspiration
"When I left home I told the people I was coming here to learn and to be inspired. I repeated it when I arrived here and I meant every word of it. I came here to learn and to be inspired. I am very, very happy to let you know, Mr. President and Madame, that I am glad I came because I have learned a great deal and have been greatly inspired by what I have seen with my own eyes.
"Yours is only a small island of 13,000 square miles and has a population of 13 million. Malawi has 47,000 square miles of land but a population of only 4 million. When I went south I saw green farms everywhere. Your officials have given me figures of rice, banana, pineapple, and asparagus production. You are able not only to feed your people here but also to export and get foreign exchange. At the end of the war you found here that industries had been destroyed by bombing, but you have built up a prosperous economy. This is a great achievement and has been done under overwhelming odds. So I have really learned. I am glad I came.
"Not only have I been impressed by your material achievement but also cultural, spiritual, and educational achievements. You have built high schools, colleges and universities, built up your armed forces and given them a rigid training. This morning I went to your museum where I saw work of art which, when you look at it, seems as if it was made only yesterday when in fact it has been lying there for 4,000 years, 3,000 years or 2,000 years. All these greatly inspired me. It has given me courage and hope.
"From the very beginning I have refused to recognize the Communists on the mainland. I have always been a bitter opponent to Communism. Now that I have been here, I don't know how much more opposed I will be. Coming here, meeting you, and discussing matters with you have made me even more strongly, almost violently opposed to the Communists.
Viet Cong Aggression
"In this respect, I feel very sad to see people who should know better say things like the war in Vietnam is not a war of Communist aggression. But did not Ho Chi Minh agree to the division of Vietnam into two? Did he not accept the boundary line? Has the southern government gone to the north and organized subversion there? Who is crossing the boundary and organizing subversion? Not South Vietnam but North Vietnam. Yes, it is North Vietnam which has organized the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. Is that not aggression? Is that not Communist aggression? If that is not, what is Communist aggression?
"To me, the war in Vietnam, waged by Ho Chi Minh through the Viet Cong in South Vietnam, is a plain, naked war of aggression pure and simple, and anyone who says it is not, no matter how high he may be, no matter what position he occupies, whether in the United Nations or in any other organization, so far as I am concerned, he does not know what he is talking about. And he should not be where he is now. The Americans, the Australians, New Zealanders, and soldiers from the other countries fighting in Vietnam are on the frontline defending the free world.
"There are people who say that the Americans have no business in Vietnam and that they are perpetuating imperialism and colonialism. I disagree. I disagree with anybody, high or low, whether he be a black man or a white man, who talks that language. The Americans have every right to fight that war in Vietnam. So far as I am concerned, bomb Hanoi tomorrow.
Views About the U. N.
"Secondly, I am shocked to hear people who should know better say that the time has now come when the Communists on the mainland should be admitted into the United Nations. The Communists on the mainland have not proved themselves good candidates for membership in the United Nations. In any case, there is already a representative of this country in the United Nations. So why talk about bringing in the Communists when the real country that deserves to a member of the United Nations is already there? The real country which is there has been there because it is a founding member. Do you kick out a founding member? This is a very, very important question. Should the individual who is reported to have made such a statement speak at all? After all, he is a civil servant. In my view, a civil servant is a civil servant. Whether he is an international civil servant or a national civil servant, he is a civil servant. He has no right to express a political opinion publicly. The question of admitting another power into the United Nations and the war in Vietnam are political questions to be discussed by the members of the General Assembly and the Security Council and not by a civil servant of the Nations, no matter how high he may be, because a civil servant is a civil servant. He must carry out and administer the policy decided by those who are supposed to be political authorities—in the case of the United Nations, the General Assembly, and the Security Council. A civil servant should not try to dictate to member states of the United Nations.
"Mr. President, Madame Chiang, I have said that I am greatly impressed by what I have seen and that I have been greatly inspired. What I have seen here I want to have in Malawi, and I am going to request you to help me do things in Malawi the way you are doing here. I am going to request your technicians, agricultural technicians, engineers, road builders, and irrigation engineers. All the time you will be getting begging letters.
"Mr. President, Madame Chiang, I think I have said enough. I could stand here and talk all night, but must be leaving. Before I sit down, will you ladies and gentlemen please rise and join me in a toast to President and Madame Chiang and to the people of this country for their continued health and prosperity."
President Chiang's Response
President Chiang responded:
"It gives Madame Chiang and myself great pleasure to attend this banquet given by Your Excellency in our honor. I wish to thank Your Excellency for your courtesy and for the kind remarks which you have just made about the endeavors, sacrifices, and achievements of the Chinese people.
"Your Excellency's visit has not only brought great joy and encouragement to the Chinese people. It is also a source of personal gratification to Madame Chiang and myself, as we have long cherished the hope of meeting Your Excellency.
"We are glad that despite the limited time at your disposal, Your Excellency has already acquired a profound knowledge and understanding of the social, economic, cultural, military, and other conditions in the Republic of China.
"Mr. President, both of our countries believe in democracy and freedom and are similarly dedicated to the cause of peace and justice. In fact, our two countries are linked together by fraternal ties forged by our devotion to the common cause as well as by the sincere and close cooperation between us.
"On the eve of your Excellency's departure, I wish to stress once again the determination of the government and people of the Republic of China to defend human dignity and freedom. The Chinese armed forces and the Chinese people will persist in their avowed task and will spare no effort in their fight against Communist infiltration, subversion, and aggression. We will carry on our fight until we have overthrown the Chinese Communist regime so that peace and security may prevail over the world.
"Mr. President, your visit has greatly strengthened the friendly ties between our two countries. It has greatly helped to increase mutual understanding between our two peoples. May I, on behalf of the government and people of the Republic of China, extend to Your Excellency my sincerest felicitations and best wishes for your continued success and a very pleasant journey home.
"Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in a toast to the health of His Excellency the President of Malawi and the prosperity of the Malawi Republic."
Visit to Hospital
An M.D. himself, President Banda spent more than an hour at Veterans' General Hospital. (File photo)
On the morning of August 10, Dr. Banda went back to his first love—medicine. He visited the Veterans' General Hospital at Shihpai in suburban Taipei and praised its facilities as among the most modern he has seen. He also stopped at the First Department Store, the largest in Taiwan, and looked at handicrafts and textiles.
In the afternoon, he held a press conference. He said the Peiping regime's "checkbook diplomacy" has failed and that the Chinese Reds have been compelled to beat a reheat from Africa. He cited the decisions of Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Ghana to turn their backs on the Chinese Communists.
President Banda said that now is the time for the Republic of China "to launch a full-scale diplomatic offensive against Red China in Africa". The ROC can win more friends in Africa and help African countries wipe out Communist elements, he said.
Thanking the Republic of China for its agricultural assistance to Malawi, he said that the Chinese agronomists have done an outstanding job and won the respect of the African people.
Before his departure for Hongkong and home August 11, Presidents Banda and Chiang held a final summit conference and signed a joint communique, which said in part:
"The President of the Republic of Malawi was warmly welcomed by the government and people of the Republic of China.
"During his visit, Dr. Banda had the opportunity to acquaint himself with the various reconstruction and development projects and was highly impressed by the achievements of the Republic of China in its social and economic development, particularly in the agricultural field.
Cordial Relationship
"The President of the Republic of Malawi was likewise impressed by the high morale and preparedness of the Chinese armed forces.
"His Excellency Chiang Kai-shek, President of the Republic of China, paid high tribute to Dr. Banda, under whose illustrious leadership the Republic of Malawi has made rapid strides in its task of national development in the face of great difficulties.
"The two chiefs of state were gratified by the most cordial relationship between their two countries and expressed their desire to strengthen these close ties of friendship. The government of the Republic of China reiterated its desire to continue its cooperation with the government of the Republic of Malawi in the economic development of that country. The two leaders were convinced that the stage had now arrived when this relationship and cooperation between the two governments and the two countries should be extended to the commercial and industrial fields.
"The two chiefs of state discussed, in a most cordial atmosphere, the international situation with particular reference to Asia and Africa. They held identical views on the subjects they discussed. They shared the view that the Chinese Communist regime was a primary source of subversion, turmoil, and unrest in Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world.
"They reaffirmed their dedication to the maintenance of world peace with justice and their desire to work in close cooperation for the welfare of mankind.
"In this connection, the two Presidents agreed that there should be a frequent ex change of views between the government of the Republic of China and the government of the Republic of Malawi. Similarly, the two countries should work in close cooperation in the United Nations and other international organizations.
Invitation to Matawi
"His Excellency Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda extended an invitation to the President of the Republic of China to pay a state visit to the Republic of Malawi at His Excellency's convenience and His Excellency the President of the Republic of China has graciously accepted the invitation."
It cannot be said that the Republic of China found a new friend in President Banda. As President Chiang Kai-shek has often said, any enemy of the Communists is a friend of free China. Dr. Banda has been a fearless opponent of Communists for a lifetime; he has always been a friend. At the same time, Dr. Banda is an African patriot and a realist. He must align his country's foreign policy for the good of Malawi and in the overall interest of Africa. After he had seen Taiwan, there was no doubt where President Banda and Malawi stood. Their position was with and for the Republic of China-all the way and without equivocation.