Foundinchina.com

Back in March I rather jumped the gun by declaring, joyously, that Zimbabwe’s rogue leader was political toast, and that these two authoritarian amigos (see picture) had signed their last arms deal.

Since then the already beleaguered people of Zimbabwe have suffered unimaginably as Mugabe and his thugs have sunk to new lows of atrocity. The appalling violence has drawn universal condemnation from the nations of the world. Well, almost.

China, no stranger to voicing its disapproval, has condemned such international outrages as the refueling of Chen Shui-bian’s plane on American soil in January (a crash landing would have been OK, I guess), foreign leaders’ meetings with the Dalai Lama, western media ‘bias’, the rights of non-Chinese peoples to protest in their own countries (torch relay fiasco), and the cultural price of a Starbucks in the Forbidden City. Weighty matters indeed.

Try googling ‘China condemns’, ’Chinese condemn’, ‘China blasts’, or, for those so inclined, ‘China defecates on’ and you’ll be left in no doubt that China is the world’s greatest producer of condemnations and surly rants. With so many issues to condemn it’s little wonder that one slips through the net from time to time. This particular escapee from China’s overseas axe grinding watchdog is a big fish: there is no condemnation of Zimbabwe’s brutal regime or the intimidation and bloodshed that has brought a nation to its knees. Let me know if you see this missing fish in a pond near you - answers to the name of ‘turn a blind eye’.

The Chinese government’s weak-assed, not to mention spurious, claim of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries isn’t good enough; China is a global player now and needs to stand up and start acting like it. If China can condemn a peaceful and respectful dialogue between a monk and, well, just about anyone, it should have the balls to denounce a humanitarian catastrophe of the first order. 

Sadly, China appears to lack the necessary testicular fortitude, its state media content to run a smiling picture of Mugabe at the polling station in another benign refusal to acknowledge what’s really happening in Zimbabwe. If you want a snapshot of the ignorance forged by China’s sugar coated Sino-African coverage, read the first comment posted on that article. And why is this? Because African dictators are China’s best buddies and democratic elections threaten to undermine the lucrative deals behind all those totalitarian handshakes.

One particular deal, attention to which was conveniently (for China) buried by the earthquake in Sichuan, was the so called ‘ship of shame‘, a boat load of arms dispatched to Zhongnanhai’s despotic pal on the good ship An Yue Jiang in the midst of political turmoil in Zimbabwe. Interference? The pollution in Beijing clearly works wonders for those having problems with cognitive dissonance. Following widespread, and justifiable, condemnation the boat was apparently recalled, but with no intention of doing any such thing. From the article (24 April):

The Chinese ship carrying a controversial consignment of weapons for Zimbabwe is being recalled and the arms will no longer be delivered. News agencies reported today that this was confirmed at a news conference in Beijing by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu.

The consignment was “part of the normal arms trade between China and Zimbabwe,” she said. “The relevant contract was signed last year and has nothing to do with the latest developments inside Zimbabwe.”

She added: “I’d like to stress that the Chinese Government always adopts a prudent and responsible attitude towards arms export and one of the important principles it adheres to is non-interference in the internal affairs of recipient countries.”

She lied. The vessel wandered around the waters of Africa until China could strong arm a government into allowing the boat to dock and unload its cargo. Read more here. The article (17 May) asserts that the shipment of weapons arrived in Harare about three weeks after Beijing’s economy with the truth. In the six weeks that have passed since more Chinese arms found there way into the hands of Mugabe’s supporters, not a day has gone by without stories like this one. How many more reasons does China need before it exercises its well-practised voice of condemnation?     

African problems require African solutions is a great sound bite; but it can only happen if outside forces are responsible, honest, and unanimous in their condemnation of, and their intention to end, Zimbabwe’s living nightmare. As the non-African nation with the most leverage in Harare, it’s time for China to display a bit of global leadership and effect a foreign policy that will alleviate rather than facilitate human suffering. 

China could begin by committing a few thousand troops (they have many in Africa already) as part of an overwhelming UN peace-keeping force under AU command that will oversee peaceful change in Zimbabwe. Logistically speaking the Chinese military are well ahead of the curve: their arms and munitions arrived some time ago.