The Guardian: Mugabe’s Fall and China

A recent visit to Beijing by Zimbabwe’s General Constantino Chiwenga is fueling speculation about Chinese involvement in Harare – à la the US Central Intelligence Agency in Iran in 1953. Simon Tisdall observes for the Guardian: “If so, the world may just have witnessed the first example of a covert coup d’état of the kind once favoured by the CIA and Britain’s MI6, but conceived and executed with the tacit support of the 21st century’s new global superpower.” China’s ties to Zimbabwe date back to the pre-independence era, when a guerrilla force led by Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president under detention, was backed by the Chinese government in the 1970s. China has retained close financial ties to the nation with significant investments in mining, agriculture, construction and energy. “Aware of criticism from Mugabe’s opponents that Beijing is propping up a despotic regime, China has used soft power tools to win over public opinion,” Tisdall explains. “This included a $100m medical loan facility in 2011 and the construction of a new hospital in rural Zimbabwe.” At the same time, China has maintained ties to members of the ruling Zanu-PF Party, including Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, suspected by some to be behind the coup. Mnangagwa is a former guerrilla fighter who undertook training and education in China during the decolonial 1960s. –YaleGlobal