by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG – CHINESE multinational technology companies are caught up in the escalating political fallout between South Africa and the United States (US) as global geopolitics becomes more serious.
The United States secretary of state Antony Blinken (left) with his South African foreign affairs counterpart, Dr Naledi Pandor
The US Congress is advocating for these companies’ presence in South Africa as a basis to impose sanctions on the latter.
Differences between the two countries have escalated this week over geopolitical issues, most recently South Africa being the most outspoken critic of Israel’s onslaught of Palestine children and women, in retribution of an attack by Hamas in October.
South Africa has lodged a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a move that apparently has rubbed America, Israel’s ally, the wrong way.
The African country enjoys close ties with the US’ main economic and political rivals for China and Russia.
The US Congress is advocating for legislation to be cited as the “US-South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act.”
Among “findings” of the Congress is “the widespread presence in South Africa’s media and technology sectors of PRC state linked firms that the United States has restricted due to threats to national security, including Huawei Technologies, ZTE and Hikvision, which place South African sovereignty at risk and facilitate the CCP’s export of its model of digitally aided authoritarian governance underpinned by cyber controls, social monitoring, propaganda, and surveillance.”
CCP and PRC are abbreviations for People’s Republic of China and Chinese Communist Party.
Chinese technology companies have been caught in the crossfire amid the intense rivalry between the Asian global powerhouse and the US, the world’s largest economy.
The latest in a series of restrictions were imposed in 2022 when the US banned telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from Dahua, Hikvision, Huawei and ZTE in what is argued was an effort to protect America’s communications network.
– CAJ News
