South Africa's Inkatha Freedom Party and US-China Competition

 The Hudson Institute posted on 26 April 2024 an hour plus podcast titled "South Africa's Historic Election: A Conversation with Inkatha Freedom Party National Spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa" and Hudson Senior Fellow Joshua Meservey.

The discussion between minute 37 and 1 hour and 2 minutes dealt with US-China competition in Africa and the Inkatha Freedom Party's (IFP) relations with China.  (The IFP is South Africa's fourth largest political party.)  The spokesperson criticized China's lack of transparency but emphasized that China is an economic powerhouse with money.  Hence you have to take it seriously.  He added it is important that South Africa pursue its own interests vis-a-vis both China and the United States, including a concern about human rights.

The IFP interacts with the Dalai Lama and Taiwan, both anathema to China, because of its historical relationship with them.  The Chinese embassy in South Africa has expressed its unhappiness with the IFP.  But the IFP also deals with China on a range of other issues and does not have an antagonistic relationship with China.  The embassy extended a standing invitation to the IFP to visit China and Tibet.  When pressed why African countries, including South Africa, have not been critical of China's policy in Xinjiang, the spokesperson replied that you dare not antagonize Beijing on such issues.  

South Africa, Foreign Policy and China

The Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University published in September 2015 an analysis titled "South Africa's Changing Foreign Policy in a Multi-polar World: The Influence of China and other Emerging Powers" by Ross Anthony, Paul Tembe and Olivia Gull. 

The study underscores the growing influence on the ruling African National Congress of emerging powers, especially China. 

China, South Africa and the Dalai Lama

The Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University published on 8 September 2014 a commentary titled "China, South Africa and the Dalai Lama: Costs and Benefits" by Ross Anthony.  For the third time, the Dalai Lama cancelled his proposed trip to South Africa, reportedly because he could not obtain a visa from the government of South Africa.