Trump sends junior officials to G20 as global alliances shift

As high-profile global representatives have descended on South Africa for the G20 foreign ministers’ summit, starting in Joburg today, the gathering is expected to take stock of changing geopolitics.

This while US President Donald Trump and his administration are pushing a unilateralism agenda: trade tariffs wars, sanctions against perceived opponents and isolationist policies, aimed at putting America first.

In line with Trump’s policy position on South Africa, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio won’t attend.

US might send junior officials to G20

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola said the US – ironically next year’s G20 host – might be sending junior officials to represent America.

“The US is not boycotting, but the American secretary of state said he himself was not coming.

“We look forward to engage with all the partners at the bilateral level, helping us to take stock of the changing or evolving global dynamics,” said Lamola in an interview with Newzroom Afrika.

ALSO READ: DA and Cosatu clash over G20 labour platform representation

Lamola said since assuming the G20 presidency from Brazil, South Africa had proposed tackling a number of issues, including rising indebtedness affecting emerging economies.

“Solidarity promotes collective problem-solving. Our G20 presidency is not confined to just climate change, but also equitable treatment for nations of the Global South, ensuring an equal global system for all,” he said.

Wits University visiting international relations professor John Stremlau said Trump was “playing to his white nationalist instinct and political ‘Make America Great Again’ in South Africa.

Trump is ‘flexing his power’

“He is a duly elected president of the US with a narrowly-divided, restive Congress and public.

“He is flexing his power while he can, with his 7 February executive order ‘addressing egregious actions of the RSA’ being an example of his ignorant bullying of SA,” said Stremlau.

The Trump pressure, which has stopped American financial aid, has left South Africa finding new alternatives to strengthen new relations and trade partnerships outside the US.

ALSO READ: AU leadership to ‘uplift Africa to higher levels’ – Ramaphosa [VIDEO]

China, the world’s second-biggest economy, has sent its veteran Foreign Minister Wang Yi, to represent the richest of Asian tigers.

Wang, who has kicked off his diplomatic high-level exchanges advocating multilateralism, earlier visited UK, Ireland and attended multilateral conferences including the Munich Security Conference, a UN Security Council high-level event.

Wang visited the UK to co-chair the 10th China-UK Strategic Dialogue.

China sends Foreign Minister Wang Yi

As the rotating president of the UN Security Council for February, China has held a high-level event under the theme of “Practising multilateralism, reforming and improving global governance”.

In the UK, Wang and his British counterpart, David Lammy, revived the UK-China Strategic Dialogue, a forum last held in 2018 to discuss bilateral issues.

Experts see the Labour government improving ties with China. Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for China’s ministry of foreign affairs, said China stood for “an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation”.

NOW READ: ‘The lies will be incomplete without you’: Ramaphosa’s spokesperson takes shots at US embassy