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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Trump cut off aid to South Africa. Will it tilt the balance in China’s favour?

Washington’s ‘self-centred foreign policy’ may push Pretoria and others closer to Beijing, observer says

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Shi Jiangtao
Donald Trump has been upending the world order since his return to the White House in January. In the second instalment of a three-part series on the implications of Trump’s foreign policy, we look at his move to halt aid to South Africa.
US President Donald Trump’s order to cut off aid to South Africa amid a row over Pretoria’s new land reform law could push the continent’s most advanced economy towards China and alienate much of the Global South.
That is the assessment of observers, who say it could also signal a shift in the battle for influence in Africa – where China’s Belt and Road Initiative has given it the upper hand – with the US moving from soft power to hard power in Trump’s second term.
Relations between the United States and its largest trading partner in Africa soured after South Africa adopted the controversial land expropriation law in January, part of the country’s efforts over decades to right the historical wrongs of apartheid.

In an executive order on February 7, Trump instructed the US government to “stop aid and assistance” for South Africa, accusing Pretoria’s mainly black leadership of taking an anti-American, anti-white stance and supporting “bad actors on the world stage” – notably Iran and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

South Africa has denied the allegations about “unjust and immoral” racial discrimination, calling Trump’s order “a campaign of misinformation and propaganda” against the country, with President Cyril Ramaphosa vowing that the country would “not be bullied”.

After Trump doubled down earlier this month – accusing Pretoria of confiscating land and treating white Afrikaner farmers “terribly” – the South African government said last week that it would not take part in “counterproductive megaphone diplomacy”.

SCMP Series
How ‘Trump shock’ shapes world order and affects China
[ 2 of 3 ]
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