Keeping an open mind on South Africa-China relations

Well, well, well – when it comes to the shifting sands of politics, it seems time changes everything.

Hence we had the undreamed of scene this week of our newly minted Agriculture Minister and DA leader John Steenhuisen praising future cooperation with China on all things farming.

Perhaps the people with thousands of years of history, those who built the Great Wall (the only human object visible from space) and who are pushing to be the world’s number one economic powerhouse, are not that bad after all, not so, John?

After this, it’s going to be a little bit more difficult for the DA and its supporters to criticise Beijing and the ANC for wanting to get closer to the Asian giant, instead of their kith and in the West.

Yet, with President Cyril Ramaphosa and other African leaders in China this week for a major summit, we must ask: Can improving relationships with China be a bad thing? With their economic clout, it is better to be friends with them than enemies.

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And one can see with our own eyes how much we rely on, and even love, the Chinese brands – or brands made in China – which are part of our everyday lives.

The debate is still on, however, about whether Africa might not be exchanging the colonialism of Europe for the occupation by China.

The Chinese have made major inroads into Africa in the past 20 years, setting up businesses, lending money to governments and even bringing in their own people to run major projects.

Yet, are they interested in exerting diplomatic influence or merely the grubby business of making money?

The Chinese, after all, don’t have the worldwide network of military bases that the Americans do. South Africa needs to keep an open mind on China and keep the relationship mutually beneficial.

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