June 15, 2004

Zimbabwe's pain is China's gain
Posted by McQ

You might recall I recently called the leadership of Zimbabwe some names like "stupid", "dumb" or was it "asinine" when it was revealed that on the heels of the success of their last land confiscation scheme (which plunged their country's economy into freefall) they'd decided to go ahead and confiscate the rest (apparently they don't believe their economy has seen the bottom yet and are going for a new record).

Well guess what ... more news from Mugabe-land.

The government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has ordered more than $240 million worth of jet fighters and other military equipment from China, renewing concerns of a sub-Saharan arms race in a region with no external threats.

Now lets not forget what was pointed out before.

Zimbabwe is experiencing a food crisis, and the World Food Program is feeding more than 600,000 Zimbabweans.

Ah, but that's not what Zimbabwe is saying:

Zimbabwe's government says the country is experiencing a "bumper crop."

And one assumes that Zimbabwe's using the proceeds from this "bumper crop" to buy jets and arms while the World Food Program feeds its citizens.

But even if we can't quite put our finger on the source of the funds, a quarter of a billion dollars is headed to China from a country with no external threats.

So why?

The opposition thinks it's to keep power:

"We believe this is a kind of [intimidation] tactic because we are going towards very crucial elections next year," said opposition spokesman Giles Mutsekwa.

"The idea is that whatever the public does, there is the possibility of it being subverted by the military," he told Agence France-Presse.

OK, makes sense in a very "Mugabe", African politics sort of way. Starve your citizens, confiscate all the land and then buy jets and arms from the Chinese to keep power.

But there's another story hidden in the absurdity of Zimbabwe's arms purchase.

China also is projecting into the region.

"For the last 18 months, China has had a policy to expand its influence in Africa," said John Tkacik, China specialist at the Heritage Foundation. "There is definitely a full-court press by China to engage not just in Asia and Latin America, but also Africa."

He said Chinese "initiatives" are targeting African countries under pressure from the West for human rights problems.

"That makes Zimbabwe pretty attractive," he said.

Yup ... while the UN dithers, the EU roils and the US is preoccupied with Iraq, the next wannabe superpower is quietly and inexorably expanding its global influence.

How nice.

TrackBack

Comments