In the course of the 1960s more and more African embassies were established in Bonn. Bertram Otto and I cultivated relations to them and maintained constant contact with the African diplomats, many of whom knew less about unexpected developments in their countries than we did. We tried to stay objective, but were not afraid to criticize abuses and unacceptable events when necessary, in Africa as in Europe. We were still welcome guests at state visits, events and receptions in Bonn.

For example: We had published the report of a French news agency on Jean-Bédel Bokassa, President of the Central African Republic, whose policies were bizarre even in African eyes and who was generally an eccentric character. The story was about buying medals in a shop in Paris. Bokassa was also one of the African heads of state who had contravened the Hallstein Doctrine: he had recognized the German Democratic Republic and initiated diplomatic relations with East Berlin. In our view he had a perfect right to do that. The German– German dispute really had nothing to do with him, and I'm pretty sure that he didn't really understand it. But there was one thing he knew: if he was refused support for one or another of his projects in Bonn, he could turn to East Berlin with a good prospect of success. This socalled “seesaw politics” was completely normal in the countries of the “Third World”, but would normally lead to more or less acrimonious breaches of diplomatic relations with Bonn and thus to the suspension of West German development aid.

One day, without warning, an invitation to the ceremony for the tenth anniversary of the independence of the Central African Republic landed in our office. That meant a free trip to Bangui, the capital. Of course we didn't want to miss that. Bertram Otto decided that I should go. Hinrich Grote was also invited by the Central African embassy in Bonn; at the time he was working for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, having recently had to leave South Africa because of his critical reports on apartheid.