adminPRESIDENT Mugabe concluded his five-day visit to China on Thursday. The President, considered a “pariah” in the West, has been treated with utmost courtesy during his state tour in Beijing. When meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on August 25, Mugabe was given a 21-gun salute.
Mugabe, 90, is the oldest head of state across the world. As one of the founding fathers of Zimbabwe, he has ruled the country for 34 years.
The West has been hostile to Mugabe since 2000, when he embarked on a land reform policy aimed at taking over white-owned farms and reallocating the acreage to landless black farmers. The reform drew extensive condemnation from the West, but won Mugabe high popularity among the blacks and led to his re-election in 2002.
China didn’t get embroiled in Zimbabwe’s domestic affairs. We have maintained good relations with the Mugabe government, which is repugnant to the West.
Mugabe now chairs the Southern African Development Community. He is in pole position to become the next leader of the 54-member African Union. Also, noticeably, sanctions on Zimbabwe were imposed by the Western countries, not the United Nations.
Western diplomacy based on “values” is out of their own interests, as shown through their hostility against Mugabe. Zimbabwe has a civil service system, opposition parties and a private media. It’s much more democratic than some US allies in the Middle East. But it’s isolated due to violations on the interests of the white people.
The reason why Chinese cooperation with Africa maintains a strong momentum is that Chinese technological capabilities and the rules of collaboration we advocate are more applicable to the continent. What the African needs most is infrastructure as well as political equality.
Besides Mugabe, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is also blacklisted by the West. Because of their might and arrogance, Western countries are quite impatient to Africa. Europe seemingly shows no regret for its colonial past. The West views aiding Africa as doing charitable work. It hasn’t formed a correct outlook on Africa yet.
In contrast, Chinese society holds a positive attitude toward Africa. Chasing equality and mutual benefit is not a slogan. We stick to such principles in our interactions with the African countries.
Chinese cooperation with Africa is driven by China’s national interests, not by competition with the West. China neither signs exclusivity agreement with African countries nor deploys troops there.
The West’s upset only reflects a lack of confidence in their influence on Africa.
Western countries should offer the continent what it needs most. They shouldn’t easily impose sanctions on “disobedient” countries. Otherwise, they will largely fall behind China in the African continent.
This op-ed was taken from Global Times newspaper of China
derick.khumalo