During his visit to Japan in August 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa made a very important foreign policy statement.
As he sought to diversify South Africas trade relations amid the threats from US President Donald Trump, Ramaphosa stated that South Africa didnt choose sides between Japan and China but loved both and embraced economic ties with them.
Japan and China occasionally rub each other the wrong way. Their mistrust dates to the Japanese invasion of China during World War 2. But South Africas decision to slice through their frosty relations and carve its own path suggests its foreign policy strategies are not as linear as they might seem. Its building of foreign relations is not binary.
