President Xi Jinping of China, travelling to Africa for the first time in five years, pledged greater cooperation with South Africa to enhance the voice of poor nations. He commended developing countries for “shaking off the yoke of colonialism”. And on Wednesday, he’s expected to hold talks with the leaders of the BRICS, a club of emerging nations, as he pushes for its expansion to serve as a counterweight to Western dominance.

On his four-day visit to South Africa this week, Xi has sought to cast himself as a leader of the developing world. Xi kicked off his trip with a state visit and was received with an honour guard, a 21-gun salute and roads lined with cheering crowds waving Chinese flags.

For China, the reception in Pretoria reinforced the message it hopes to send to audiences both at home and abroad that Beijing’s offer of an alternative to the US-led global order has ample purchase outside the exclusive club of the developed countries. That has grown increasingly important to China. Its support for Russia and its aggressive posture on issues like the status of Taiwan, the self-governed island Beijing claims as its territory, has alienated it from countries in North America, Europe and Asia.

In China’s escalating rivalry with the US, Africa is an emerging battleground for global influence. Beijing has invested billions in countries that have long been ignored by the West. The result of that outreach has been diplomatic support in international organisations like the United Nations and access to critical minerals needed to power growing industries, like electric vehicles.

“For Xi, the goal is to try to discredit the West and show that there is an alternative out there,” said Eric Olander, the chief editor of The China-Global South Project website. “He’s trying to tap into this incredible well of grievance and frustration among many Global South countries over what they perceive as this massive duplicity and hypocrisy on the part of rich countries.”

That frustration has been driven in recent years by unfulfilled promises by developed countries to deliver Covid-19 vaccines to poorer countries and the feeling that not enough is being done about soaring food and energy prices.

In a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa on Tuesday, Xi said it was “urgent” for China to strengthen unity and cooperation with countries in Africa because of “changes and chaos” in the world — imagery Xi has used to describe intensifying competition from Washington.

Xi leaned on his long relationship with South Africa’s leadership, recalling his first visit to the country 20 years ago as a provincial governor. In this, his fourth visit to South Africa, Xi reiterated China and South Africa’s “comradely” relationship. His remarks sought to draw parallels between the two countries’ political and economic fates, saying that as his government is “leading the Chinese people to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, South Africa is forging ahead with an independent development plan.

But the main highlight of his trip has been the summit in Johannesburg of the BRICS group of nations — named for its members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — as Beijing seeks to increase its sway. While not mentioning it by name, the Chinese leader took aim at the US, painting it as a bully and a threat to peace in a speech on Tuesday that was read by China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao.

He warned of bloc confrontation and called on nations not to “sleepwalk into the abyss of a new Cold War”.

“Should we embrace prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, or allow hegemonic and bullying acts to throw us into depression?” the speech read.

By contrast, Xi portrayed China as a force for stability and pointed to vague, loftily worded initiatives around development and security that analysts say are aimed at weakening the spread of Western liberal values and the influence of forums like Nato.

The BRICS summit provides a rare multilateral forum for Xi to air such rhetorical flourishes. Attendees come from not just the five members of the group, but many other countries. They include nations aligned with China, such as Iran, and others that profess nonalignment and are looking to hedge between Beijing and Washington, such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

New York Times News Service