White House: South Africa Violates G20 Founding Principles

The White House said on Saturday that South Africa, using its rotating presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), has undermined the founding principles of the organization. This follows the G20's adoption of a declaration on climate change despite U.S. opposition.

The White House accused South Africa of refusing to assist in the handover of the G20 presidency to the United States. Previously, the G20 adopted a declaration on climate change despite the U.S. opposition.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly stated that despite the U.S. continuous strong opposition, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pushed for the G20 leaders to issue a declaration on addressing the climate crisis and other global challenges.

She added that President Donald Trump is looking forward to "restoring the legitimacy of the G20 when the U.S. hosts the G20 summit in 2026."

Previously, at the G20 leaders' meeting held in South Africa, despite the U.S. boycott and refusal to participate in drafting the document, the meeting still adopted a final declaration to address the climate crisis as well as economic and geopolitical challenges - which the White House officials called "shameful."

Overwhelming Consensus

The spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the declaration was "non-negotiable" and emphasized that South Africa had worked on the draft for a year, achieving an "overwhelming consensus" among member states to adopt the document. This is the first declaration issued during the presidency of an African country in the organization.

Informed sources revealed that the draft was finalized on Friday, with Washington not participating. Previously, the U.S. opposed the clauses in it related to climate change, expanding renewable energy use, and debt relief for poor countries.

The inclusion of climate change clauses in the declaration is seen as a disregard for U.S. President Donald Trump's position. Trump questions the broad scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activities.

Argentina also withdrew from the negotiations at the last minute, expressing reservations about the clauses mentioning the Middle East conflict. These clauses called for "a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace on the occupied Palestinian territories."

Sources: News Agency

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1849628163271692/

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