G20 summit flop? World leaders boycott the meeting in South Africa

US President Donald Trump was one of the first to announce that he would not participate in the G20 summit organized on November 22 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The presidents of China, Argentina and Mexico have also since withdrawn. Putin also resigned out of fear of possible arrest.

President Trump, who has repeatedly accused the authorities in Pretoria of discrimination and persecution of the white minority, will certainly not participate in the meeting. The American leader also wants South Africa to leave the G20 group. Last week he announced that he would not be replaced by Vice President JD Vance, who canceled his visit at the last minute.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, putting a good face on a bad game, said at the time: – If you boycott the event, you are the biggest loser because the summit will go on.

On Wednesday, the boycott of his American ally was supported by Argentine President Javier Milei, who will be replaced at the summit by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno. Argentina is one of three G20 members in Latin America, along with Brazil and Mexico. But Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo also decided that she preferred to side with the US and resigned from going to Africa.

When, a day later, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, without explaining the reasons, announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping had also joined the growing number of world leaders who would not take part in the G20 summit, and that Beijing would be represented by Prime Minister Li Qiang, President Ramaphosa did not issue any announcement.

He also did not comment on the decision of his closest ally, Russia, when he learned that Putin would not arrive in Johannesburg, as he is still subject to an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. According to the South African news portal DailyMaverick, Russia will be represented by the deputy head of the Kremlin administration, Maxim Oreshkin.

The participation of the new Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, in this meeting is also questionable, because the parliament, which has not made a decision as of Friday, must agree to her trip.

Among the greats, the South African president is counting only on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian Luiz Inacio da Silva, who have confirmed their presence, as have the leaders of over 40 other countries.

G20 members constitute 85 percent. global GDP and about two-thirds of the world's population. The G20 presidency changes every year and will be succeeded by the United States after South Africa. President Ramaphosa said on Friday he would hand it over to the US delegation “even if it means placing the documents on an empty chair.”

Tadeusz Brzozowski (PAP)

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