They Came, They Saw, They Joined: China’S Association With G77 

by Admin (Posted on January 10, 2024)

By Steven Akabwayi

While at Kigezi High School Kabale, we had a teacher who was fond of making fun of students but we could find it hard to hate him because of his great sense of humor and storytelling skills that made us fall in love with history.

One of the remarkable phrases I remember from one of his stories was Julius Caesar’s Latin statement “Veni,vidi, vici” loosely translated as “I came, I saw, conquered.”

Ceaser made this statement while writing to one of his friends Amantius who also served in a Roman Senate around 47 BC informing him about the quick victory in a short war against Pharnaces II of Pontus at the battle of Zela in modern-day Turkey.

Unlike most students, I never used to view history as just a subject, to me it was a shared adventure a journey through time of not just reciting dates and names but also drawing moral lessons from historical stories.

It’s upon Caesar’s statement “ I came, I saw, I conquered” a phrase that I base China’s association with the G77 countries informing my article’s title “They came, they saw, though they never Conquered but instead they joined”. Just like Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Adonia Ayebare who is also coordinating both NAM and G77 summits mentioned while appearing on one of the national TVs, in international relations, numbers do matter a big deal.

China’s association with the G77 countries offered it an opportunity to collaborate with over 134 countries in terms of collective bargaining and negations with the dominant Western countries mostly on multilateral agreements at the UN level.

It’s not a secret that China, just like the rest of other developing countries, continues to face unfairness and marginalization by imperialist countries in today’s world order where the West collectvely advoacte for the so-called rules-based order which sadly the West especially the U.S and allies again cherry-pick which rule to follow but call out others in event of slight deviation which today, arguably is a new normal especially the way the U.S treates those countries Washington sees as small states especially in the global south.

From January 15th -22nd of this year, all roads will lead to Kampala Munyonyo where Uganda will be hosting two big international conferences back to back (Nonaligned Movement and G77+China). Regarding these two summits that will put Uganda in the spot giving it visibility both diplomatically and politically, China has chosen not to act as a usual guest in both summits, through their embassy in Uganda, China has taken part in major backstage preparations to ensure the smooth running of the two summits.

As a gesture of brotherhood it attaches to its relations with Uganda and indeed the rest of Africa and global south in general, the Chinese government donated over 70 SUV vehicles to be used in transporting delegates and other government officials who will participate in the two summits.

Speaking about the importance of Uganda’s Chairmanship of NAM and G77 Ambassadors Adonia Ayebare noted that the global South countries have woken up to the fact that they need to express solidarity through helping each other by sharing technology through the South-South Corporation. It should be noted that China attaches much value to the South-South Corporation this has been exemplified through various development assistance such as grants and direct aid, the South-South Cooperation Fund, Belt and Road Initiative among others.

In recent trends, Western countries have been making what analysts regard as kicks of a dying horse in their attempt to deny China the status of a developing country. By doing so Western countries hoped to suppress China’s contribution and significance towards the developing world. However, unlike in the colonial era, it’s not by surprise that the Western move of divide and conquer has been a miscalculation this time given the strong solidarity among global southern countries.

The G77+China has achieved remarkable milestones, it should be noted that in 2010, the G77 group appealed for a political will from developed countries to resist all protectionist measures and tendencies, particularly on the agricultural subsidies and non-tariff barriers on trade. This was two years after the 2008 financial crisis Whose effects badly hit developing countries. It was against this backdrop that the G77 attained what’s regarded as one of the major victories commonly known as the Bali package.

The Bali package emphasized trade facilitation by resolving a series of decisions aimed at streamlining trade allowing developing countries more options for addressing food security and boosting trade amongst themselves.

China being part of the G77 has been mutually beneficial offering tangible benefits to both China and the other global South countries. China has managed to leverage its association with the G77 by increasing its global influence giving it a platform to voice its interests as a developing country in terms of trade, climate change, and sustainable development.

Economically, within the past two decades, China has emerged as the largest trading partner among the G77 countries due to the enhanced market access and economic opportunities that come along with its association with the G77.

The writer is a Research Fellow at Sino-Uganda Research Centre.

 

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