By Abby Makoe
China has sent one of the most seasoned career diplomats, Ambassador Wu Peng, to Pretoria to help accentuate bilateral relations with Beijing but also to help spread its tentacles across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
Truth be told – hunger, poverty and joblessness, particularly youth unemployment, are sky-rocketing unabatingly. Sadly, the SADC region in particular has become a catchment area for impoverishment through poor governance systems and inadequate skills development, among a plethora of impediments.
In a world that is rapidly becoming completely globalized through technological advancement, strategic international relations have assumed a crucial role in the developmental agenda of the global South as well as South-South relations.
No nation, no matter how economically developed, can prosper without cooperation with like-minded allies. Additionally, technological development has weaved the entire universe into one global village characterised by the compression of time and space.
China has risen to appreciate this factor a long time ago and has put in place systems and personnel to bring about Beijing’s foreign policy objective of a shared future with allies. The world’s second most populous country is not the world’s second-biggest economy for nothing. Success in one part of the world can have a similar impact in another -thousands of miles away through a mere click of a mouse.
Technological development, people-to-people diplomacy, innovation and education have become the hallmarks of China’s rise in global affairs. Luckily, China is ever willing and ready to share its success, which has seen more than 800 million people taken out of poverty over the past decade.
The arrival of Ambassador Wu Peng as China’s top envoy to SA and the region is a major statement of intent by the administration of President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Amb Wu was head of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of African Affairs. His track record shows that he is a seasoned diplomat who is well-versed in African affairs. The Department of African Affairs is tasked with implementing China’s foreign policy and principles. It reports and works on China’s bilateral relations with countries and regions concerned.
The strategic department also handles diplomatic affairs with and makes representations to relevant countries and regions, oversees and also coordinates policies on and cooperation and exchanges with relevant countries and regions.
Additionally, it guides China’s overseas diplomatic missions on their relevant work. Part of Amb Wu’s background through his work in the Department of African Affairs embodied the responsibility for translation and interpretation “for important diplomatic functions, documents and instruments in relevant languages” so that the content becomes easily accessible.
The SADC region, and indeed the continent, stands to benefit greatly from the knowledge and expressed intent of Amb Wu to establish mutually beneficial relations and to take existing cooperation with stakeholders to greater heights.
Ambassador Wu, who arrived in the country recently, described relations between China and SA as characterised by a special bond of “camaraderie plus brotherhood”.
In recent years, Amb Wu explained, the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and SA has witnessed steady and speedy development, “setting a fine example for China-Africa and South-South cooperation”.
Last year, during President Xi’s state visit to South Africa, Beijing announced that China’s bilateral relations of 25 years have entered a “golden era”. But as China-Africa relations enter a fast-track of development, it would be a shame indeed if any nation in the SADC region were to miss the opportunity for win-win cooperation with a world superpower.
“The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century,” Amb Wu pointed out. Such changes of great significance in global affairs are causing irreversible reconfiguration of the international world order and that requires states to choose allies wisely.
Strategic diplomatic relations can play a crucial role in the economic development and geopolitical positioning of states. This could lead to stability and growth, as well as a secured future, particularly for the youth who are a majority across the entire Sub-Saharan Africa.
Later this year Beijing will play host to the new summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and this presents a huge opportunity for diplomatic cooperation to be bolstered and taken to new heights of mutual benefit. “It is my great honour to assume office at this moment, and with the honour comes heavy responsibilities,” Amb Wu said.
He added that he looks forward to strengthening contact and communication, enhancing understanding and cooperation, and ensuring that he builds on the existing building blocks already established through common interest between Pretoria and Beijing.
The Embassy of China in SA also serves as a catalyst for the development and advancement of cooperation across the SADC region. Hopefully, the region will seize opportunities for the sake of a potential win-win future among equals.
