South African scholar: The strengthening of the BRICS mechanism helps to break down hegemonism, unilateralism, and worldview in China
On August 26th, China News Agency reported that the BRICS mechanism will have a huge impact on multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the G20 and South South cooperation. In an interview with China News Agency, Farhana Parouk, a senior manager at the Gordon Institute of Business Sciences at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and former researcher at the Weidehai Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, made the above evaluation.
Farhana Paluk has been studying China for over 20 years. As a China Africa relations expert invited to speak at the BRICS Forum this time, she shared her observations and experiences on site with China News Service. "The discussions at this meeting were very lively... it will have a significant impact on multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the G20 and South South cooperation.".
At present, the crisis in Ukraine is deadlocked, the relationship between China and the United States is complex, and regional hot topics are emerging one after another. Parouk believes that in the current context of increasingly severe global governance challenges, multilateral cooperation mechanisms represented by the BRICS Cooperation Mechanism will play an effective role in addressing issues such as geopolitics, economic and trade, environmental and climate governance.
Parouk stated that this BRICS summit has the significance of becoming a watershed for global governance mechanism reform. These like-minded countries come together to seek commonalities among civilizations and discuss practical solutions to the challenges they face, which will help break the hegemonism and unilateralism of the United States and the West.
When it comes to inclusive multilateralism, Parouk pointed out that the BRICS countries share the commonality of humanistic care and inclusive thinking. She believes that the concept of "benevolence" in Chinese Confucianism and the "Ubantu" in South Africa are essentially similar, that is, there is an inseparable connection between people. The South American region also has a long-standing tradition.
She further pointed out that the multilateralism mechanism represented by the BRICS countries, especially the ideological core emphasized by China, which is cultural exchange and mutual learning, peaceful coexistence, will definitely go beyond differences, conflicts, and cultural superiority. Compared with the "clash of civilizations theory" proposed by American politician Samuel Huntington, it provides a different answer.
Economic development is another focus of this summit. In the post pandemic era where global economic recovery is urgently needed, exploring opportunities for economic cooperation is of extraordinary significance. According to data released by the UK economic research firm Acorn Macro Consulting in March 2023, calculated at purchasing power parity, the GDP of the BRICS countries accounts for approximately 31.5% of global GDP. Regarding this, Parouk stated that based on the huge economic size of the BRICS countries, the BRICS cooperation mechanism will inject more resources and vitality into the global economy, expand market access, and bring more economic and trade opportunities.
As a South African scholar, she also stressed that China has played an important role in promoting the implementation of multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the BRICS cooperation mechanism and the "the Belt and Road" initiative in South Africa and even in the African continent.
Parouk stated that South Africa is currently facing an energy crisis, and China has provided technical support such as photovoltaic power generation at this critical juncture to help South Africa advance its clean energy transformation. In addition, a number of infrastructure projects assisted by China are also in full swing in African countries along the "the Belt and Road".
Parouk expressed his expectation for more cooperation between China and South Africa in the energy sector in the future. She further analyzed that in future South South cooperation, BRICS countries need to focus on areas such as trade, energy, and infrastructure construction to better achieve goals such as poverty eradication and promoting economic growth.
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