South Africa yesterday began preparations to host US President Barack Obama and other world leaders eager to pay their respects to former South African president Nelson Mandela during 10 days of mourning for the anti-apartheid icon.
On Friday, South African President Jacob Zuma announced the mourning period for Mandela, the founding father of modern South Africa and its first black leader, after he died late on Thursday aged 95, surrounded by friends and family.
Obama is to travel to South Africa next week, the White House said, joining a raft of world leaders for a huge memorial service on Tuesday.
Photo: EPA
Mandela’s body is to lie in state in Pretoria for three days before he receives a state burial next Sunday in his boyhood home of Qunu in the rural Eastern Cape.
The logistics are daunting for hosting the great and the good who plan to fly in from around world to honor the universally respected statesman.
Memorial events begin today, with South Africans invited to visit churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship to pay their respects.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the Obama family would “participate in memorial events,” without giving details.
In a tribute shortly after the revered statesman’s death was made public, Obama mourned Mandela as a “profoundly good” man who “took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice.”
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will also be among those flying in next week, her office said.
On Friday, South Africans across the country poured out onto the streets in a riot of color, dance and song to celebrate the life of their beloved ex-leader, known affectionately as Madiba — his clan name.
In Cape Town, a crowd of thousands from all races and ages gathered for a multi-faith celebration at the site where Mandela made his first public speech after nearly three decades in apartheid jail.
“Tonight we stand in solidarity as the people of Cape Town — black, white, colored, Indian, all the religions together,” Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille said.
South Africa’s archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, a fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner, praised Mandela as an “incredible gift that God gave us.”
Mandela spent 27 years in an apartheid prison before becoming president and unifying his country with a message of reconciliation after the end of white minority rule. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with South Africa’s last white president, F.W. de Klerk, in 1993.
Palestinians and Israelis, Beijing and the Dalai Lama, Washington and Tehran all paid heartfelt tribute to Mandela, describing him as one of the towering figures of the 20th century who inspired young and old with his fight for equality.
North Korea, in its first official reaction yesterday, sent its condolences to South Africa, praising Mandela’s “struggle against racism and for democracy.”
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe paid tribute to Mandela as “a champion of the oppressed.”
Even beleaguered Syrian president Bashar al-Assad paid homage on his official Facebook page, calling Mandela “a torch for the resistance and liberation from racism, hatred, occupation and injustice.”
India declared five days of mourning for a man the premier labeled “a true Gandhian.”
A Paris summit of about 40 African leaders was overshadowed by Mandela’s death. An old associate, African Union Commission President Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said Mandela “was a son who became larger than the continent.”
South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said the best way to remember Mandela was to free the African continent of poverty, unrest and disease.
“We will do it in your name,” she said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source