Honorary whites

Not to be confused withHonorary Aryan.

Honorary whiteswas a political term that was used by theapartheidregime ofSouth Africato grant some of the rights and privileges ofwhitesto those who would otherwise have been treated asnon-whitesunder thePopulation Registration Act.It was enacted by the then rulingNational Party(NP).

This designation was made on a case by case basis as its underlying intent was utilized to select individuals within the context of various circumstances such as competitive sporting events and diplomatic exchanges. The term was also applied towards certain racial groups, most notably,East Asianswho were ascribed as honorary whites. Such examples included theJapanese,Koreans(although this status was rejected by the South Korean state),Hong KongersandTaiwanesewho were granted "honorary white" status, and later thelocal Chinese communityof South Africa and individually designated figures of various other races were added as well.

Designation of East Asians

Chinese

Main article:Chinese South Africans

Chinese South Africans (simplified Chinese:Hoa duệ nam phi nhân;traditional Chinese:Hoa duệ nam phi nhân) areOverseas Chinesewho reside inSouth Africa,including those whose ancestors came to South Africa in the early 20th century until Chinese immigration was banned under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904.

As with other non-White South Africans, the Chinese suffered from discrimination duringapartheid,and were often classified asColoureds,but sometimes asAsians,a category that was generally reserved forIndian South Africans.Under theapartheid-eraPopulation Registration Act, 1950,Chinese South Africans were deemed "Asiatic", then "Coloured", where they were forcefully removed from areas declared "Whites only" areas by the government under theGroup Areas Actin 1950 and governed as "Coloured".

The new designation of "Honorary whites" granted in the 1960s to the Japanese seemed grossly unfair to South Africa's small Chinese community (roughly 7,000 at that time), who, it seemed, would enjoy none of the new benefits given to the Japanese. AsTimequoted one ofCape Town's leading Chinese businessmen, "If anything, we arewhiterin appearance than our fellow Japanese friends. "Another indignantly demanded:" Does this mean that the Japanese, now that they are "considered" white, cannot associate with us without running afoul of theImmorality Act?"

Furthermore, with the inclusion of other East Asians from Taiwan and Hong Kong as honorary whites complicated matters on how the local Chinese were treated, and apartheid regulation on Chinese varied from department to department and province to province as locals could not distinguish East Asians apart from each other, due to similar genetic traits and physical appearance. This caused confusion and discontent among the local Chinese community as they had fewer rights compared to their Hong Kong and Taiwanese counterparts despite no differences in ethnic background and physical appearance. This uncertainty fueled the emigration of the Chinese South Africans to other countries in similar manner to other "Coloureds" under the Apartheid regime, as it demonstrated that such a status was primarily influenced by geopolitical factors rather than racial considerations.

In 1984, the Group Areas Act was amended to allow Chinese South Africans to live in areas the government had declared white areas and use the facilities within them.Chinese South Africans were required to apply for a permit from the government in order to move into a white area. Restrictions still apply where a Chinese family that wanted to move into a white suburb had to ask the permission of their neighbors – 10 houses to the front, 10 to the back and 10 on each side of the house they intended to call home.

Hong Kongers

Main article:Hong Kong–South Africa relations

In spite of the tense relations between the apartheid regime and the United Kingdom,Hong Kong,a British colony at the time, continued to engage in trade with South Africa. As an incentive of attracting investment in South Africa,Hong Kongerswere granted honorary white status by the South African government, enabling them to facilitate their living accommodations and investment activities.

Japanese

Main article:Japanese people in South Africa

The designation was ascribed to the entireJapanese populace(who also once were ascribed asHonorary AryansbyNazi Germany) in the 1960s. At the time, Japan was going through a post-wareconomic miracle,and this designation assisted a trade pact formedbetween South Africa and Japanin the early 1960s, when Tokyo'sYawata Iron & Steel Co.offered to purchase 5 million tonnes of South Africanpig iron,worth more than $250 million, over a 10-year period.

With such a huge deal in the works, then Prime MinisterHendrik Verwoerddetermined that it would be tactless and disadvantageous to trade arrangements to subject the Japanese people to the same restrictions as other ethnic groups because trade delegations from Japan would regularly visit South Africa for business and trade.

Afterward, Pretoria's Group Areas Board publicly announced that all Japanese people would be considered white.Johannesburg's city officials even decided that, "in view of the trade agreements", the municipal swimming pools would be open to all Japanese guests.

The designation gave the Japanese almost all of the same rights and privileges as whites (except for the right to vote; they were also exempt fromconscription). Until the early 1970s, opposition party politicians and the press questioned why Japanese were granted special privileges, citing hypocrisy and inconsistencies with apartheid.

Koreans

Main article:Koreans in South Africa

Unlike Japan and Taiwan (ROC),South Koreawas unwilling and uninterested in accepting honorary white status and eventually outright refused to establish diplomatic relations with South Africa over apartheid.Although South Africa offered honorary white status to South Korean citizens when the two countries negotiated diplomatic relations in 1961, South Korea severed ties with South Africa in 1978 in protest of apartheid, and full diplomatic relations between the two countries were not re-established until 1992, when apartheid was abolished.

Taiwanese

Main article:Chinese South Africans § Immigration from Taiwan

See also:South African Airways Flight 295

The Apartheid regime enjoyed warm relationship with theRepublic of China(ROC), informally Taiwan, as South Africa continued to recognize the Republic of China over thePeople's Republic of China(PRC) under theOne China Policy.South Africa'sNational Party(NP) also supported Taiwan'sChinese Nationalistsin their claimants toMainland Chinaand theSouth China Sea.

The inclusion of the Taiwanese was an important decision forrelations between South Africa and Taiwan,as both countries were becoming increasingly isolated from the international community and treated aspariah states;especially after the Republic of China lost its seat that represented "China" at theUnited Nations(UN) to the People's Republic of China withResolution 2578.In 1980, PremierSun Yun-suanmade an official visit to the country.

Granting Honorary White status to the Taiwanese further warmed relations and allowed immigration of Chinese into South Africa since the enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904. Generous incentives and subsidies were offered to the Taiwanese to settle and invest in South Africa, and Taiwan had become South Africa's fifth largest trading partner by 1979, especially in regards to weapons exports which the country desperately needed due to sanctions while fighting theSouth African Border War.

Others

The "honorary white" status was given to other special visitors belonging to other races, including:

• Guyanese authorE. R. Braithwaite,who wrote a scathing bookHonorary White: Visit to South Africaabout his stay;
• Cricketers in theWest Indian rebel teams;
• Players ofPolynesian(a sub group of Austronesian)MaoriorSamoanbackgrounds in the1970 touring All Blacks rugby team
• Australian Aboriginal tennis playerEvonne Goolagong Cawley.
• African American tennis playerArthur Ashewas also offered Honorary White status but he refused and explicitly demanded to be booked as a Black man when he visited and played in South Africa.
• Malawian diplomats

See also

• Honorary Aryan
• Honorary male
• Model minority
• Racial hierarchy
• Takao Ozawa v. United States
• An Investigation of Global Policy with the Yamato Race as Nucleus
• Sarah Rector('Given her wealth, in 1913, theOklahoma Legislaturemade an effort to have her declared white')