Mogomotsi Mogodiri
Pretoria - A historic meeting between President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping took place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit held in Bali two weeks ago.
The bilateral meeting was the first physical interaction between the two leaders since the outbreak of Covid-19 three years ago.
It also happened against the backdrop of the Communist Party of China (CPC) having recently concluded its 20th National Congress where they reimagined the future of China and its relations with the other countries of the world.
It was also at this congress that the CPC reiterated its foreign policy that defines China’s foreign policy as underpinned by the principles of mutual respect, independence, equality and non-interference in others’ internal affairs.
The CPC views China’s development as being intertwined with human progress and peaceful development.
The CPC “has always taken it as its mission to make new and greater contributions to humankind”.
It also reaffirmed its stance on multilateralism where countries respect one another and utilise multilateral forums like the UN to advance human development and resolve disputes.
The G20, which is a global economic forum of mainly developed economies, is also expected to play its role of maintaining the right direction of the global economy, especially during these turbulent times when countries are battling to recover from the devastation of their economies that was caused by Covid-19-related restrictions and other afflictions.
This will give concrete expression to the theme of this year’s summit: “Recover Together, Recover Stronger.”
The meeting between presidents Ramaphosa and Xi cemented the historical relationship between the ANC and the CPC and the more than 20 years of strong and ever-growing diplomatic relations between South Africa and China.
These strong ties that were forged in the Struggle against apartheid and are aptly described by President Xi as a “special bond of comrades plus brothers” being strengthened with cultural ties blossoming, people-to-
people exchange programmes and trade between the two countries grew to about $49 billion.
This achievement has cemented China’s position as South Africa’s largest trading partner for the past 13 years.
These growing ties should also be viewed against the backdrop of a firm commitment by the CPC to strengthen relations with other countries, especially in the developing world, with specific reference to South Africa.
This goal was, once again, aptly articulated during the recently concluded 20th National Congress of the CPC, and will be pursued through platforms and programmes like BRICS, the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation, the China-South Africa Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and Belt and Road Co-operation.
All of these partnerships and programmes are aimed at pursuing China’s foreign policy with Chinese characteristics without being prescriptive or bullying other countries.
The CPC has committed itself to nurturing a conducive atmosphere of co-operation and strategic partnerships with other countries in pursuance of “international fairness and justice and the common interests of developing countries”.
This will be done without interfering in the internal matters of other countries or dictating to them what policies to pursue and which countries they must relate or not relate with.
Our country is sitting in pole position given its historical ties with China.
Therefore, we need to clearly identify the challenges that we are facing. We should then grab the opportunities presented to our country by our membership of BRICS and the close relationship between our country and China. The commitment from the CPC is a matter of public record and we need to figure out how we leverage that goodwill.
In this vein, the CPC has shared experiences in party and state governance with political parties of other countries while showcasing best practices in party building and economic development.
Currently, our country is facing a multiplicity of problems, challenges and issues, chief among them being holding the unwanted title of being the most unequal country in the world while it is endowed with an abundance of natural and mineral resources.
The inequality gap between the rich, who are mainly white, and a minority, and the poor, who are mainly the vast native majority, keeps growing instead of narrowing.
The attendant issues of poverty, unemployment, disease and squalor are also persistent without any hope of, at the very least, subsiding unless and until there is political will and decisive leadership to stem the tide.
These are issues that are not peculiar to our country, and China has confronted all or most of them successfully.
For instance, the CPC in its Work Report to the 20th National Congress reported that it had succeeded in “eradicating absolute poverty and achieved the poverty reduction target set in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 10 years ahead of schedule”.
This is no mean feat, and crucial lessons can, and should, be drawn from Chinese experiences in this regard, especially given the prevalent and ever-growing poverty in our country.
Therefore, South Africa needs to interact with the government of the People’s Republic of China to study their model, draw lessons and then customise the solutions to our own environment if we are indeed serious about making a serious dent in the persistent poverty problem we are facing.
It is critical that the work undertaken at the pilot village for co-operation on poverty eradication in South Africa be expedited so it can be rolled out across our country.
The not-so-small matter of energy insecurity bedevilling our everyday lives and devastating an already battered economy is another matter that needs serious attention if our country is to come out of the economic doldrums.
Rolling blackouts are being normalised as Eskom is battling to keep the lights on.
It seems as though we are failing to get the energy balance right as the scales have been inexplicably tilted, for reasons best known to the powers that be, in favour of the independent power producers (IPPs) who are more than happy to have government officials touting their untested and unreliable technology that has failed in countries such as Germany.
China, like our country, is a developing economy. It also pursues industrialisation vigorously. South Africa is also supposed to industrialise if it is to become a serious player in a globalised world.
However, the energy insecurity has proved to be an inhibitor to economic recovery and growth generally, and industrialisation in particular.
Our country will have to collaborate with China to get our energy mix right, including leveraging on technological developments that will contribute to securing our energy supply.
Through this growing friendship, partnership and co-operation, South Africa and China must pursue issues of common interest, such as promoting and maintaining world peace, fostering energy and food security, and building and strengthening multilateral institutions, frameworks and mechanisms to ensure fairness, equality and independence, their individual national interest notwithstanding.
The 25th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic ties between China and South Africa can only have concrete meaning if the historical ties are leveraged to change the lives of the two countries’ peoples for the better.
The China-South Africa Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has laid a firm foundation to build on and strengthen strong comradeship plus brotherhood that is in existence.
Pretoria News