China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Situation in Zimbabwe monitored
Foreign Ministry urges parties in ‘friendly’ nation to handle matters
China said on Wednesday it is closely following the situation in Zimbabwe and hopes the African nation will properly handle its internal affairs.
The ruling party in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, said in Twitter posts on Wednesday that there was “a bloodless transition” and suggested President Robert Mugabe had been detained. It said the army had not staged a coup and the situation was stable.
“As a country that is friendly with Zimbabwe, we are paying close attention to developments of the situation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular news briefing.
Geng said maintaining peaceful and stable development is in line with the fundamental interests of Zimbabwe and regional countries and is the common desire of the international community, adding that China hopes the parties in Zimbabwe appropriately handle their internal matters.
He also said a trip to Beijing last week by Zimbabwe’s military chief was a “normal military exchange” in response to questions about whether Zimbabwe Defense Forces commander Constantino Chiwenga briefed Chinese officials on plans for the takeover in Zimbabwe.
In a warning issued on Wednesday, which is valid through May 14, the Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe urged Chinese citizens there to watch out for their safety.
China and Zimbabwe have maintained a good relationship since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1980.
Shen Xiaolei, a researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the political uncertainties are unlikely to have a major impact on the bilateral relationship, but Chinese companies there might be affected in the short term.
“There does not exist any anti-China faction in Zimbabwe. Both Mugabe and former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa visited China many times, hold friendly attitudes toward China, and this is unlikely to change in the long term,” he said.
According to media reports, there are now about 10,000 Chinese in Zimbabwe, and some State-owned enterprises are working on infrastructure construction projects such as roads and airports there.
“However, due to the sluggish economy in Zimbabwe, some Chinese enterprises already have withdrawn,” said Zhang Jin, a professor at Zhejiang Normal University’s Institute of African Studies. “So the impact won’t be significant.”
China is Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner.
Muna Mohamed, a scholar at the department of Public Policy and Administration at Kenyatta University in Kenya said he believed that China will maintain its long-held tradition of noninterference. “Whichever the situation, I don’t think China will lose Zimbabwe as a friend,” he said.