Performers take part in a gala performance entitled “Justice Will Prevail” to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar)
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, from right, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II at Tiananmen Square in Beijing Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
President Donald Trump waits for the arrival of Polish President Karol Nawrocki at the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
South Africa asks China to postpone naval exercises that coincide with possible Trump trip for G20
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) 鈥 South Africa’s Department of Defense said Thursday it has asked China to postpone naval exercises that would have brought Chinese and Russian warships to South African waters around the time the country hosts a Group of 20 summit.
Performers take part in a gala performance entitled “Justice Will Prevail” to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar)
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) 鈥 South Africa’s Department of Defense said Thursday it has asked China to postpone naval exercises that would have brought Chinese and Russian warships to South African waters around the time the country hosts a Group of 20 summit.
has been invited to attend the summit in Johannesburg on Nov. 22 and Nov. 23, although it’s following his criticism of South Africa as a country he has 鈥渁 lot of problems with.鈥
South Africa holds 鈥 its partners in the BRICS bloc 鈥 every two years and the exercises scheduled for late November were part of that agreement. China is the lead nation of this year’s exercises to be held in South African waters.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
The Department of Defense said in a statement its request to China to postpone the naval exercises was to ensure they “do not impact on the logistical, security and other arrangements associated with South Africa鈥檚 G20 Presidency.鈥
There was no indication if China had agreed to the request.
China’s President Xi Jinping is due to attend the G20 summit alongside leaders from France, Germany, the U.K. and others. Russian President Vladimir Putin likely won’t attend because of for his arrest in connection with the war in Ukraine that South Africa would be expected to execute because it is a signatory to the court’s statutes.
China in a huge parade in Beijing on Wednesday marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Putin attended that parade alongside Xi.
South Africa’s with China and Russia have strained its relations with Western nations, including the U.S. It hosted Chinese and Russian warships in early 2023.
If Trump attends the G20, it would put him at the
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said after at the White House in May that the U.S. president would attend the G20 summit. But Trump said in July that he was considering skipping it, accusing South Africa’s Black-led government of adopting anti-white policies at home and an anti-American foreign policy stance.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
鈥淚 think maybe I鈥檒l send somebody else because I鈥檝e had a lot of problems with South Africa. They have some very bad policies,鈥 Trump said.
South Africa has denied Trump’s characterization of it as anti-white and anti-American. It will hand the rotating presidency of the G20 to the U.S. at the end of this year.
