The G-20 hasn\u2019t even started, but has already descended into petty taunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s host \u2014 South Africa \u2014 and next year\u2019s host \u2014 the US \u2014 spent Thursday trading barbs over what exactly constituted participation in the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But what read at times as a farcical diplomatic dispute over semantics underscored some of the deep divides plaguing this week\u2019s meeting and threatening to undermine a preeminent global forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The heart of the controversy was a claim by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that the US had reversed course and decided to participate in the G-20. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have received notice from the United States, a notice which we are still in discussions with them over, about a change of mind, about participating in one shape or form or other in the summit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If true, it would represent a victory for Ramaphosa after US President Donald Trump announced his nation was boycotting the summit for the first time ever while reiterating false claims that South Africa is instigating a genocide against White Afrikaners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reality actuality appeared more complicated \u2014 with the resulting controversy suggesting that tensions between Ramaphosa and the White House were only deepening, rather than easing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramaphosa was apparently referring to a signal from the US that Marc Dillard, who became deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Pretoria in August, would serve as the US representative at a ceremony marking the handover of the G-20 presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Trump administration officials denied that proposing Dillard attend the handover ceremony amounted to any retreat from Trump\u2019s vow not to participate in the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe representative of the embassy in South Africa is simply there to recognize that the United States will be the host of the G-20,\u201d White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey are receiving that send off at the end of the event. They are not there to participate in official talks, despite what the South African president is falsely claiming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, the South African government signaled displeasure with the decision to send an embassy official rather than a cabinet member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The diplomatic squabbling has become a trademark of international summits in the Trump era, with foreign leaders scrabbling to engage with a US president who finds little utility in the broad international forums \u2014 while harboring an appetite for conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thursday\u2019s taunting evoked Trump\u2019s response to the BRICS summit hosted by Brazil, where the US president and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was hosting the conference, traded insults and threats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this time, Trump\u2019s attack on the multilateral order is threatening to derail the conference as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this week, the US formally warned South Africa against pushing for a joint statement at the first G-20 held on African soil, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond missing the summit, meant for the world\u2019s most powerful leaders to address critical geopolitical and economic problems, the US is pressuring South Africa and other members not to publish a joint declaration at its conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe US opposes issuance of any G-20 summit outcome document under the premise of a consensus G-20 position, without US agreement,\u201d it said in a letter to South Africa, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf a deliverable is issued under your presidency, it will be framed solely as a chair\u2019s statement to accurately reflect the absence of consensus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Securing a declaration is a priority for Ramaphosa. He has sought to build on the agenda advanced by recent G-20 presidents from the so-called Global South \u2014 Indonesia, India and Brazil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That includes making the fight against climate change and inequality a priority. The US is opposed to prioritizing those issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africa and the US exchanged barbs over the Group of 20 summit this weekend in Johannesburg, as the White House called President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s claim that Washington had rethought its boycott of the event \u201cfake news.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":815446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[7185,853,20932,3659],"class_list":["post-844066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-g20","tag-south-africa","tag-trump","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844066"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":844088,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844066\/revisions\/844088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}