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As ‘Mosi-2’ Naval Drills Begin With Russia & China, South Africa Could Be Sucked Into Game Of Power Rivalry

The joint exercises have started and have been codenamed "Mosi-2," meaning smoke in the local Tswana language.  

China has made substantial investments in the African continent. The road symbolizes a shift in a key China-Africa relationship: over debt and infrastructure.

In the 2000s and 2010s, China’s state-backed banks lent African governments billions of dollars for roads, ports, or airports built by Chinese State-Owned-Enterprises (SOEs).

Some deals, as in Angola and Congo, linked repayment to extracting natural resources. State-backed lending has since dwindled as China seeks new funding models. The expressway’s tolls, which in theory should pay for the road, are an example.

Africans live globalized lives. Those who travel to work on Chinese-built roads may do so in Japanese minibusses decorated with images of players from European football leagues, ringing messages on American social media platforms.

They worry about rising prices, a global pandemic buttressing supply chains, and a Russian decision to invade Ukraine.

China: The Upcoming Superpower

In the background of this scenario, China is just one foreign influence among many. But it is seen differently.

In April, the survey The Economist commissioned from Premise, a pollster, asked Africans in seven countries, a mix of democracies and authoritarian states, which would be more powerful in a decade: China or America.

In all seven, the answer was China. Overwhelmingly, they also felt that China’s influence was favorable as well.

Last month, a Russian naval frigate and a helicopter took part in a joint maritime drill with Chinese warships codenamed ‘Joint Sea 2022’ in the East China Sea. Based on the annual cooperation schedule between the two militaries, the drill focused on the joint maintenance of maritime security. “All the courses involve operations that the Chinese navy might use in the future while coping with the maritime challenges and safeguarding regional peace and stability,” said Zhang Huiwu, a commander from the Chinese navy.

Driven by this imposing naval drill, defense analysts have said that South Africa will likely use China and Russia as “bargaining chips” in its dealings with the US after announcing a joint drill with the two countries in the Cape Route waters.

The drill is also seen as giving propaganda hype to Moscow after it announced that Russian forces had seized the small town of Soledar after months of reverses and heavy losses.




South Africa China Russia
Xi Jinping, Cyril Ramaphosa & Vladimir Putin

The joint exercises have started and have been codenamed “Mosi-2,” meaning smoke in the local Tswana language.  

Earlier, this announcement came from South African military sources. “The Chinese and Russian navies would join its forces for the drill off the port city of Durban and Richard Bay, one of the strategically important shipping routes connecting Europe and Asia,” South Africa’s military stated. It will be the second such exercise after a previous drill in November 2019.

Russian warship Gorshkov armed with hypersonic cruise weapons will participate in the exercises. TASS agency reported the frigate is armed with Zircon missiles, which fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of more than 1,000km (620 miles), confirmed Al Jazeera on 23 January.




File Image: Zircon Missile

Experts believe South Africa is faced with a precariously failing domestic economy and needs financial support, which it might be able to get from the US. This is why some observers call the announced naval exercise a “political show” amid the ongoing confrontation between China, the US, and Russia.

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