The brief disruption to chip exports from Taiwan to SA highlighted how quickly diplomatic frictions can touch industries and jobs.
In today’s unsettled global economy — marked by trade wars, technological rivalry and shifting alliances — such episodes remind us that SA’s foreign policy must remain anchored in its tradition of nonalignment.
That principle is not just political; it is the best guarantee of prosperity, keeping all markets and partnerships open while ensuring that growth and employment at home are protected.
This balanced posture has guided Pretoria before. In the war in Ukraine, SA resisted pressure to take sides instead opting for dialogue and even supporting mediation. That same spirit must shape our economic diplomacy today.
In a world where major powers use trade and investment as tools of pressure our foreign policy must both reflect our principles abroad and protect our industries at home.
Confrontational measures
Already, some of SA’s largest partners are adopting confrontational measures. Washington has imposed tariffs on certain exports and criticised our domestic transformation policies, such as broad-based BEE and land reform. These actions, regardless of their motivation, create headwinds for our exporters and make market access less predictable.
European partners are tightening green standards, raising the bar for future trade. These challenges illustrate why SA’s foreign policy cannot be ideological or symbolic. It must be consistent, coherent and above all pragmatic.
China will remain SA’s largest trading partner, a source of infrastructure finance and a vital export destination. But reliance on a single partner carries risks. Diversification is not anti-China; it is sound economics. Smaller, targeted relationships can play an outsize role in supporting jobs and securing advanced technologies.
Taiwan is one such case. Though bilateral trade volumes are modest, more than 450 Taiwanese businesses have invested nearly $2bn in SA over the past two decades, largely SMEs embedded in local supply chains.
Earlier estimates suggested that Taiwanese businesses have supported more than 40,000 local jobs, a figure likely to be even higher today. Taiwan also dominates the global semiconductor industry, producing more than 60% of the world’s chips and 90% of the most advanced computer chips.
Our diplomacy should not multiply conflicts but rather build bridges.
The recent brief restriction on chip exports to SA underscores how even symbolic diplomatic frictions can spill into real costs for our automotive industry, our digital and AI ambitions, and ultimately for SA workers and the broader population.
As SA prepares to host the Group of Twenty (G20) in November, Pretoria has the opportunity to showcase the strength of principled non-alignment. Our diplomacy should not multiply conflicts but rather build bridges. It should safeguard sovereignty, reflect our values of dialogue and solidarity, and above all protect SA workers.
In whatever we do our national interests must always be at the centre of our decisions. The national interest should always inform international interests and not the other way around. When we pursue international interests it is always about us exporting our friendliness and the values of ubuntu to other nations of the world.
Primarily, diplomacy must always be about mutual and equitable benefits among the states, with a clear understanding that governments are acting in the best interests of their people. People-to-people relations are as important as a cornerstone of diplomacy.
History teaches us that principles and development go hand-in-hand. Today that means remaining balanced between major powers, resolving disputes through dialogue and keeping doors open to all who contribute to our growth. That is how SA can lead with integrity abroad while ensuring prosperity at home.
• Mkhiva is secretary-general of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA.
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