Look East Policy of Zimbabwe threatened by Power-Sharing Pact - analysts  - PART 3 of 5 | Voice of America - English
An international human rights organization based in the United States is warning that relations between Zimbabwe and China are in the future likely to be increasingly strained. The Enough Project ? an alliance of scores of advocacy organizations from all over the world ? says Zimbabwe?s recent power-sharing agreement could result in a realignment of Beijing?s relationship with Harare. China has in recent years given President Robert Mugabe?s ZANU-PF government significant political and economic support. Humanitarian groups say this has exacerbated Zimbabweans? suffering.
China has shielded the Mugabe administration from several international punitiveactions, such as an expansion of targeted sanctions against the president and certainmembers of his ruling ZANU-PF party, at the United Nations Security Council inJuly. Beijing vetoed a raft of new measures against the Zimbabwean rulers,arguing that it didn?t want to meddle in the affairs of a sovereigncountry. Despitethe recent power-sharing agreement, ?there really has yet to be aninternational cost, a measure of accountability, for the (Mugabe) regime,? saysColin Thomas-Jensen, the Enough Project?s Africa Advocacy Manager. ?Thereare bilateral sanctions that the European Union and the United States haveagainst Zimbabwe, but the type of targeted sanctions that really bite are thosepassed by the UN Security Council and implemented by every member state.Because China?s been such a staunch defender of the regime, we?ve yet to seethat level of international pressure.? Activistsargue that Chinese support has been a significant contributor towards keepingMr. Mugabe in power. Beijing has poured investment into Zimbabwe, and has alsothrough the years supplied arms and ammunition to the ZANU-PF government. InApril, shortly after opposition Movement for Democratic Change ? MDC ? leaderMorgan Tsvangirai received more votes than president Mugabe in the first roundof Zimbabwean elections, Beijing shipped almost 80 tons of rockets, mortars andother weapons to Zimbabwe. But, after the deal sparked international outrageand workers in South Africa refused to unload the cargo, China recalled theshipment. Speculation continues, though, that the consignment did eventuallyreach Harare, although China and Zimbabwe deny this. Humanrights activists say China has also sold riot control equipment, small arms andair force trainer jets worth $200 million to Mr. Mugabe?s government. Inaddition to the weaponry, Beijing has also given several gifts to presidentMugabe and his allies. The tiles that decorate the president?s palatial Hararehome were a ?goodwill donation? from China, for example. Thomas-Jensensays Beijing?s support for the Mugabe administration thus far has ?made a verybad situation much, much worse. An election?s been stolen, an economy?s beendriven into the ground by president Mugabe and those around him, the securityforces as well as paramilitaries (using Chinese-manufactured) weapons havecommitted widespread human rights abuses against the Zimbabwean people. It?s ahumanitarian disaster, it?s a regional catastrophe.? TheChinese government has repeatedly denied that it has played any role in harmingthe people of Zimbabwe, saying that it has pursued ?legitimate businessinterests? in the country, and that Zimbabwe?s internal political and humanrights concerns should be solved by Zimbabweans themselves. Thomas-Jensensays Beijing?s stance ?doesn?t hold any water.? ?Thefact that China throughout this (political and economic chaos in Zimbabwe)simply stood by and said, ?this is an internal matter,? I think sends a prettyclear message to Zimbabweans that the Chinese really don?t care aboutZimbabwean?s human rights concerns, about their desire for democracy and aboutthe overwhelming expression that it?s time for Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF togo.? The activist says the international community has sincethe days of apartheid South Africa been awakened to the fact that doingbusiness with countries that commit abuses against their people emboldens andstrengthens such repressive regimes - ?oiling the wheels of war,? in effect -and cannot be excused as ?legitimate? business. This, he says, is seen in anumber of laws passed by certain states in the US that forbid Americancompanies from doing business with Sudan, which stands accused of perpetratinggenocide in Darfur. Activists are also at the moment keeping a close watch onan unfolding case in a New York federal courtroom, where various groupsrepresenting South African victims of human rights atrocities have filed alawsuit against 24 international banks and corporations that conducted businessin apartheid-era South Africa. The plaintiffs say the firms? business dealingsin the country advanced the apartheid system, and that this therefore makesthese enterprises complicit in the human rights abuses of the regime. Thomas-Jensensays China?s actions regarding Zimbabwe are ?undoubtedly? driven by its desirefor African resources, and that the ZANU-PF rulers grant Beijing certainprivileges in exchange for its political and economic support. ?China?sreceived a number of mining concessions (from Zimbabwe), and it?s really thatthat?s been driving the Chinese interest in Zimbabwe,? he says. Zimbabweanbusinessman and MDC economics official, Eddie Cross, says some within thecountry?s mining industry are concerned that the Mugabe administration istransferring a ?range of mineral rights? to Chinese companies, or to firms runby the president?s political supporters who in turn also have close ties toChinese state-owned enterprises. Aspokesman for the ZANU-PF government, George Charamba, says the Chinese are?doing a lot of good for the people of Zimbabwe, with jobs and all of that? andthat Harare wouldn?t have forged such close ties with Beijing ?if it wasn?t inthe best interests of all our people.? Crosssays the government has clearly made it as easy as possible for the Chinese todo business in Zimbabwe. It has, for example, exempted Chinese imports fromcustoms duties, and president Mugabe has awarded the contracts to supply allpublic buses and provide generators to Zimbabwe?s power company, to Chinesecompanies. Accordingto Cross, Zimbabwe has paid Beijing ?mostly in kind? for this, especially withtobacco and mineral rights, as foreign exchange is in short supply in Zimbabweand the country?s own currency is almost worthless. Also,in 2005, Cross says the ZANU-PF government began to lease land seized fromwhite farmers to ?Chinese interests on a contract farming basis.? ButThomas-Jensen comments, ?The Chinese haven?t really received a return on theirinvestments that they expected. Nor have the Zimbabweans seen the Chineseinvestment do anything to stanch the bleeding of what?s the worst economy inthe world.? Hesays the Chinese have invested heavily in ?infrastructure projects? inZimbabwe. ?Theymoney?s been laid out but it?s not yet been (spent), and I think that?s partly? if not completely ? due to the imploding (Zimbabwean) economy. Even forChina, this is a very risky business environment that they?re working in.? YetBeijing has indicated nothing but patience with regard to Zimbabwe, saying it?snot concerned about the minimal returns on its investments in Zimbabwe so far,as it?s business plan for the country is long-term. Mr.Mugabe has called his pro-China policy ?Look East? and he says it?s bearingfruit, with increasing numbers of Chinese tourists visiting Zimbabwe, forexample. Asopposition to president Mugabe has grown since he began confiscatingwhite-owned farms in 2000, he has repeatedly said that he doesn?t need Westernfinancial and political support, and is far better served by Beijing, whose aidcomes with no strings attached. Butanalysts say Tsvangirai ? who in terms of the power-sharing agreement isZimbabwe?s new prime minister ? is likely to significantly alter Harare?srelationship with the giant of the Far East?. If he and ministers allied to himare indeed eventually given real powers to shape government policy. ?Ratherthan a ?Look East? policy, Tsvangirai has clearly in recent years cultivated a?Look West? policy. For better or worse, he?s seen as very closely allied withBritain and America,? says Professor Sean Jacobs, a South African expert onsouthern African politics at the University of Michigan in the U.S. Chinain turn says it wants to see a positive outcome in Zimbabwe, and is willing tocooperate with the authorities there whoever they are, as long as it?s for themutual benefit of both China?s and Zimbabwe?s people. Thomas-Jensensays he doubts Tsvangirai will simply ?let bygones be bygones? with regard toChina?s recent role in his homeland. ?If Morgan Tsvangirai did have a role in whichhe could exert some influence on the Zimbabwe government?s policies, I reallythink we would see a reexamination within the Zimbabwean government of therelationship with China. Mr. Tsvangirai and MDC supporters are not going toeasily and quickly forget the role that China?s played in helping to prop upthis ZANU-PF government.?