Johannesburg - On July 21, the People’s Republic of China officially celebrated their Lunar New Year. The big celebration to usher in the New Year was hosted by Ambassador Chen Xiaodong at the Chinese embassy in Pretoria on Thursday, two days earlier, due to logistical reasons.
The Chinese dubbed their celebration a welcome of the “Year of the Rabbit”. Last year, they regarded 2022 as the year of the tiger. In the Chinese culture, “the rabbit symbolises kindness, beauty and peace”, Ambassador Chen said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a statement of good wishes. The Presidency statement released to the media read: “President Ramaphosa has, on behalf of the government and people of South Africa, expressed his wish that the advent of the Year of the Rabbit will indeed endow citizens of the People’s Republic of China with the longevity, peace and prosperity associated with the zodiac sign for the year ahead.”
The statement continued: “South Africa values the vibrant economic relations and political cooperation that characterise its partnership with the People’s Republic of China. As we enter the New Year, we are also celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of SA and the People’s Republic of China in 1998.”
Amid the joyful celebration, what caught my attention the most was President Ramaphosa’s reference to the fact that SA is set to succeed China as Chair and host of the next BRICS Summit later in 2023. He said Pretoria’s wish was that Chinese President Xi Jinping would travel to SA to attend the BRICS Summit.
“We hope to receive His Excellency, President Xi Jinping in SA. These occasions provide ample cause for celebration,” President Ramaphosa said in a statement.
IMPORTANCE OF BRICS
A celebration of what? That is the question. And the answer is not hard to find, either. In a world where geopolitics have come to be characterised by a penchant for unilateralism – where the powerful Global North countries gang up against their weaker counterparts in the developing economies - BRICS symbolises a rare hope amid growing global despair against international cooperation.
BRICS members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are massive regional powers with a significant global impact as individual countries and, more importantly, as a bloc. Together, the BRICS countries comprise nearly about 3.2 billion people or just over 41% of the world’s population.
Furthermore, together, the BRICS countries cover more than a quarter of the world’s land area over three continents and also account for more than 25% of global GDP. The power of BRICS cannot be underestimated.
The bloc is widely seen as the foremost rival to the G7 bloc of leading advanced economies, and it has since launched competing initiatives that include the BRICS Bank and the BRICS payment system that deliberately undermines the stranglehold of the US dollar on the global economy.
This is the organisation that SA would be leading in 2023. All BRICS leaders – Heads of State – are expected to visit SA when they hold their annual summit. India, Russia and China are classified as emerging superpowers. Currently, the US is the only remaining world superpower since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union at the turn of the 90s.
Among the five BRICS members, Russia and China are two of the five permanent members of the powerful UN Security Council. This means that they have the veto power to annul unwanted resolutions, thereby directly impacting geopolitics most effectively.
That SA will be Chair of BRICS for 2023 should therefore be seen in the light of positioning amid the rapidly-changing international relations dynamics. The founding preamble of BRICS has reference to the promotion of development among member-states. The bloc’s other objectives include promoting trade ties, sport, art and culture, as well as people-to-people diplomacy.
Although the emergence of BRICS has concentrated mainly on economic development and cooperation, solidarity in geopolitics is another area that requires urgent attention. This is in the light of competing interests such as the G7, G20, Nato, EU and the WTO, among others.
It is commendable that since it was founded in 2006, BRICS has stayed the course, growing and expanding to include SA in 2011. Currently, there is a great possibility that under SA’s Chair, BRICS could well accept several applications to join the bloc. Several countries are known to have shown an interest to join BRICS. They include Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Turkey, Senegal and Egypt, among others.
The expansion of BRICS under SA’s stewardship would be hugely significant. It would alter the geopolitics of our times and accentuate the notion of political solidarity similar to the US-led NATO and the EU.
But above all, a bigger, stronger BRICS would not only withstand the effects of unpredictable developments, such as the unilateral imposition of economic sanctions by the US and its allies against geopolitical opponents but also equip the bloc to retaliate against such aggression or “sanctions abuse”.
Opponents of the emergence of BRICS are quick to dismiss the bloc as a failure. They discourage every initiative and effort for cooperation by member-states and constantly throw spanners in the works in adherence to their Neo-liberal agenda to scupper any threat to the Western hegemony.
But the truth is, 2023 provides President Ramaphosa with a rare opportunity under the sun to write his name in history. Under his Chairpersonship of BRICS, he can affect the direction of world politics like never before. Geopolitical solidarity among BRICS members is a direct threat to the dominance of the Global North in world politics.
For instance, BRICS could resolve to vote as a bloc at global fora such as the UN, WTO and elsewhere, thereby forcing their agreed-upon agenda into the geopolitical development of our time. It would not be easy, that’s for sure. The decades-old dominance of the West in global affairs is deeply entrenched. It would take a spectacular effort to dismantle it. And that is a possibility, nay, probability.
The bilateral relations among BRICS member-states are also a matter of great interest. For example, on the economic front, China has been SA’s largest trading partner in the continent for 13 years in a row. Last year alone, trade volume between Pretoria and Beijing reached $56.7 billion, up by 5% year-on-year.
“China,” said Ambassador Chen, “is ready to work with SA to implement the important consensus between our two Heads of State, further enhance mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation, increase mutual support, promote people-to-people links, and jointly safeguard multilateralism and international justice.”
Lastly, a stronger BRICS could have a massive in matters and developments, such as the Ukraine war, more so that Russia is a member of the bloc. So far, almost all BRICS members have supported Russia by commission or omission. SA, for instance, has been at pains explaining to the western allies its non-aligned stance in the ongoing war. But amid a war that is directly affecting global security and the world economy, BRICS’ voice ought to be louder. In the light of a possible expansion of BRICS, perhaps the world could see that, indeed, the more, the merrier.
The gradual weakening of the UN and the growing sectarianism in world politics should serve as an added motivation for BRICS to grow out of its shell, stand up and be counted. The time could well be now. But then again, it depends largely on what President Ramaphosa does with the powerful position of Chair of BRICS.