In Xi-Ramaphosa Call the Chinese President Gently Reminds His South African Counterpart About Taiwan and Beijing’s “Core Interests”

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Friday with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. The bulk of the discussion, according to a summary published by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was what one would expect:

  1. China’s support for South Africa’s battle against COVID-19 
  2. Chinese support for African debt relief 
  3. Continued cooperation between the two countries in multilateral forums

The one issue that did stand out, however, was an interesting reference to Taiwan. After the discussion, the Chinese government and its various state-run media outlets appeared to go out of their way to showcase how Cyril Ramaphosa supports “China’s stance on the Taiwan question and other issues concerning China’s core interests.”

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by Eric Olander

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
4
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
5 Trump’s Contradictory Iran Strategy Leaves U.S. Weaker After War’s End, Says Chinese Commentator
6
Thailand in Last-Minute U.S. Talks as 36% Tariff Looms

You Might Like

Ramaphosa: China to Increase PPE Shipments to Africa and Deploy New Centralized Distribution Hub

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday that all African countries will be able to procure COVID-19 medical supplies shipped from China through a new central gateway. “What we are now doing, is ...

Tweet of the Day: Chinese Ambassador Denounces South African Opposition Party’s Ongoing Visit to Taiwan

Chinese Ambassador Lin Songtian, who is now quite prolific on Twitter, turned to the social media platform to express his displeasure about the Inkatha Freedom Party’s decision to visit ...

China Accused Zimbabwe of Undercounting Its Financial Assistance… By a Lot!

A very public rift broke out on Tuesday between China and Zimbabwe over how much financial assistance Beijing provides to Harare.  It all began last Thursday when Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said in a ...

China Turns to Twitter to Negotiate Financial Assistance Dispute with Zimbabwe

Typically in a dispute like the one China’s currently having with Zimbabwe over the exact amount of aid provided by the Chinese government would be handled behind closed doors between officials from the ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP