{"id":1922492,"date":"2023-05-02T02:25:18","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T06:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-south-african-officials-court-biden-admin-as-tensions-rise-over-countrys-ties-to-china-russia\/"},"modified":"2023-05-02T02:29:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T06:29:16","slug":"in-depth-south-african-officials-court-biden-admin-as-tensions-rise-over-countrys-ties-to-china-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-south-african-officials-court-biden-admin-as-tensions-rise-over-countrys-ties-to-china-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"IN-DEPTH: South African Officials Court Biden Admin as Tensions Rise Over Country\u2019s Ties to China, Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fin-depth-south-african-officials-court-biden-admin-as-tensions-rise-over-countrys-ties-to-china-russia%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1922492&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>South African Officials in Washington to Prevent Punishment for Ties with China and Russia<\/h2>\n<div class=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"aplayer_app\" data-source=\"https:\/\/vs1.youmaker.com\/assets\/2023\/0501\/b3677fb0-525a-4342-86a9-b19b370490ad\/audio.mp3?length=7001037&#038;duration=583\"><\/div>\n<p>Senior officials from the South African government have been in Washington since April 28 to try to prevent the Biden administration and members of Congress from punishing the country for its increasingly close links with China, Russia, and other anti-United States powers.<\/p>\n<h3>Delegation Led by President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s National Security Adviser<\/h3>\n<p>The delegation is led by President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-president-trump-to-pardon-gen-michael-flynn-per-report\/\" title=\"BREAKING: President Trump to Pardon Gen. Michael Flynn, Per Report\">national security adviser<\/a>, Sydney Mufamadi, who is also a top member of South Africa\u2019s governing African National Congress, the ANC.<\/p>\n<p>The visit is happening amid concerns that South Africa\u2019s ongoing refusal to condemn Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine is jeopardizing its economic and political relations with the United States.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cClose Friendship\u201d with Beijing and Moscow<\/h3>\n<p>China and the former Soviet Union backed the ANC\u2019s armed struggle against apartheid, and Africa\u2019s oldest liberation movement has stated that this is reason enough for it to maintain a \u201cclose friendship\u201d with Beijing and Moscow, \u201cwhatever the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cThat cost might arrive much sooner than the ANC expected, in the form of Washington ejecting South Africa from AGOA,\u201d<\/b> Chris Isike, a professor of international relations at the University of Pretoria, told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<h3>What is AGOA?<\/h3>\n<p>AGOA is the U.S. government\u2019s African Growth and Opportunity Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 2000. It gives African countries that subscribe to values considered important to Washington, such as democracy and human rights, duty- and quota-free access to U.S. markets for a long list of products.<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.S. government\u2019s AGOA online portal, South Africa exported goods worth 60 billion rands, almost $3.5 billion, to the United States under AGOA in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAGOA is very beneficial to South Africa, particularly for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/unemployment-rate-rises-for-first-time-in-a-year\/\" title=\"Unemployment Rate Rises for First Time in a Year\">motor vehicle manufacturers<\/a> and for our agricultural sector. We export a lot of vehicles and fresh fruit and vegetables to the U.S.,\u201d\u00a0Peter Fabricius, an independent international relations expert based in Johannesburg, told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>Being a member of AGOA is also symbolic, because it gives other countries and investors confidence to do business with South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Other Issues Discussed<\/h3>\n<p>Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, told The Epoch Times that AGOA was \u201conly one part\u201d of the presidential delegation\u2019s business in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the discussions that have already happened this weekend were follow-up issues that sprang from President Ramaphosa\u2019s meeting with President Biden at the White House in September,\u201d\u00a0Magwenya said.<\/p>\n<p>One of these issues was Washington\u2019s offer to support South Africa\u2019s battle against insurgents allied to the Islamic State in neighboring Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo; another issue was differences over U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe and increased U.S. tariffs on South African steel imports.<\/p>\n<h3>Concerns Over South Africa\u2019s Ties with China and Russia<\/h3>\n<p>But Fabricius said Ramaphosa wouldn\u2019t send a special delegation to Washington if he weren\u2019t worried about something that could threaten future U.S.\u2013South African relations.<\/p>\n<p>Senior ANC officials told The Epoch Times that the South African government\u2019s trip to the U.S. Capitol wasn\u2019t \u201cprearranged\u201d and was \u201cout of the ordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fabricius said Pretoria clearly had reason to be concerned, as powerful members of the U.S. Congress belonging to both parties \u201cwant South Africa to face some kind of consequences\u201d for its \u201cconstant and unreasonable\u201d support for regimes including China, Russia, and Iran.<\/p>\n<h3>Optics of Putin\u2019s Visit to South Africa<\/h3>\n<p>The AGOA Forum, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-the-view-slams-mike-pences-joke-about-buttigiegs-maternity-leave\/\" title=\"WATCH: The View slams Mike Pence's joke about Buttigieg's 'maternity leave'\">annual event attended<\/a> by heads of African member states and senior U.S. trade officials and members of Congress, is scheduled to be held in South Africa in September, just weeks after the BRICS Summit.<\/p>\n<p>The timing was \u201crisky\u201d for the U.S. government, Isike said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Putin visits South Africa and isn\u2019t arrested, and is treated like a hero here, like he has been in the past, and then the Americans arrive \u2026 Well, the optics are not going to look good for them,\u201d\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey will probably suffer political consequences back home if they\u2019re seen being friendly with a government that\u2019s just held a big party with one of their big enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pretoria is also allowing sanctioned Russian vessels to dock in South African ports and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-depth-south-african-officials-court-biden-admin-as-tensions-rise-over-countrys-ties-to-china-russia\/\" title=\"IN-DEPTH: South African Officials Court Biden Admin as Tensions Rise Over Country\u2019s Ties to China, Russia\">recently hosted joint military exercises<\/a> with the Chinese and Russian navies. South Africa then de<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exciting news from Johannesburg! A team of high-ranking officials from the South African government has been in Washington since April 28, fighting to keep the Biden administration and Congress from punishing their country for cozying up to China, Russia, and other anti-United States powers. Led by President Cyril Ramaphosa&#8217;s national security adviser, Sydney Mufamadi, this delegation is determined to protect their nation&#8217;s interests and maintain their newfound alliances. Stay tuned for updates on this thrilling diplomatic showdown!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1981,"featured_media":1922493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[4496,7975,3620,4501,10331,4733,24405,3638,5319,4280,3960,9085,3864],"class_list":["post-1922492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-admin","tag-african","tag-biden","tag-china","tag-countrys","tag-court","tag-in-depth","tag-officials","tag-rise","tag-russia","tag-south","tag-tensions","tag-ties"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1981"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1922492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1922493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1922492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1922492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1922492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}