CHINESE Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi, visiting South Africa for the G20 meeting of the organisation’s foreign affairs ministers, has heaped praise and expressed gratitude for the hospitality of his hosts, the South African government.
Of greater significance, Wang acknowledged the hosting of the G20 summit for the very first time on African soil, just as his host, President Cyril Ramaphosa, had done earlier whilst delivering a keynote address to the geopolitical gathering.
Said Minister Wang: “This year represents an Africa moment at the G20. After welcoming the African Union as a full member, the G20 is going to have a summit on the African continent for the first time.”
He also called on the international community to listen with greater care to Africa’s standpoint on global affairs, saying: “It is necessary for us to listen to what Africa has to say. Take Africa’s concerns seriously, support Africa’s actions and make efforts for peace and development in Africa so as to leave a distinct African mark on the Johannesburg summit.”
He added: ”China firmly supports the African people in independently solving African problems. African people have the wisdom, capability, and right to take good care of their own affairs, and the AU’s goal of silencing the guns in Africa will be achieved.”
Invoking the wisdom of democratic SA’s founding father, Nelson Mandela, Minister Wang quoted the late statesman as follows: “It is so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.”
“China,” he elaborated, “will work with all parties to pour more consensus for peace—bolster the force for peace and build a world of lasting peace and universal security.”
South Africa is the current Chair of the G20 for 2025, and the meeting in Johannesburg by top global envoys this week was part of a build-up to the full-blown summit later this year.
Apart from the G20, China and South Africa are key members of BRICS, and bilateral relations between the two nations are at an all-time high. Over the past 15 years in a row, China has been South Africa’s biggest trading partner.
In fact, only last year, during his fourth state visit to the country, Chinese President Xi Jinping described the flourishing bilateral ties between Beijing and Pretoria as having entered the “golden era”.
Addressing the meeting in Johannesburg before a global audience and media, Wang pointed out that the gathering was taking place amid “turbulence, turmoil” that threatens global security. “Regional conflicts and turmoil break out from time to time, and the global security deficit keeps growing,” he noted.
He also reminded the gathering about resolutions adopted at the last summit held in Brazil last year, when G20 leaders undertook to build a “just world order and sustainable planet”. He added that this “highlighted the importance of diplomacy and dialogue in the peaceful resolution of conflicts, supporting all efforts to address crisis”.
Wang also said: “Today, as we gather as G20 foreign ministers, it is time to renew our commitment to the consensus of the Rio Summit, which is to act as a joint force for world peace and stability and build a safer world.”
To that end, China will work with all parties in the following areas: First, acting as the guardians of world peace. Countries should respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and respect the development paths and social systems independently chosen by each other.
Differences and disputes between countries should be handled peacefully through dialogue and negotiation. International and regional hotspot issues should be solved by political means. Interference in other countries' internal affairs must be rejected. The five principles of peaceful coexistence initiated by China and some other Global South countries 170 years ago remain as relevant as ever under current circumstances.
Second, acting as the builders of universal security: Humanity is a community with a shared future. A country must not pursue its own security at the expense of the security of other countries and the legitimate security concerns of other countries. Legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, Wang said.
In this connection, he said, President Xi Jinping has proposed the Global Security Initiative, which advocates the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. “Security featuring dialogue rather than confrontation, partnership rather than violence, and win-win rather than zero-sum,” Wang said.
China is ready for closer exchanges and cooperation with all sides in this regard, he added. Third, he said, acting as the defenders of multilateralism. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. It is also the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, he argued. As the international situation becomes more complex and global challenges more acute, it is all the more important to defend the authority of the UN.
The Ukraine crisis, which everyone has mentioned, China has noted that recently calls for peace talks have been growing, and a window for peace is opening up.
“Although different parties don’t share the same position and a complex issue can hardly be solved by a simple solution, dialogue is better than confrontation, and talking is better than fighting. Here I wish to reaffirm the following: China advocates for a peaceful settlement of the crisis at an early date. We all along follow President Xi’s four points on what should be done in proactively promoting peace talks. China supports all efforts conducive to peace, including the recent agreement reached by the United States and Russia. We hope that all parties to the crisis can find a sustainable solution that accommodates each other’s concerns,” he said.
“And China will, according to the needs of the parties to the crisis and considering the concerns of the international community, especially the Global South countries, continue to play a constructive role for the political settlement of the crisis,” he promised.
On the Gaza conflict, he said it has caused an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. “Fighting must not break out again, and a ceasefire agreement must be implemented continuously and effectively. Gaza and the West Bank are both homelands of the Palestinian people. The Palestinians governing Palestine is an important principle and should be upheld in the post-war governance of Gaza. The two-state solution is the only viable solution. The Palestinian question is a historical injustice that has dragged on for over seventy years and must not be marginalised again.”
On the Syria issue, according to Minister Wang, “the international community should respect the choice of the Syrian people. There should be no room for violent, terrorist forces in Syria.”