China-Zimbabwe Relations: An Analysis Of The Bilateral Cooperation Since1980

One finds that in recent years scholars have paid much attention on the growingties between China and Africa that are serving as important economic lifelines foreach other. China's interaction with Zimbabwe stretches back to its support ofZimbabwe's liberation struggle against colonialism. The People's Republic of Chinaand the Republic of Zimbabwe established diplomatic relations on April18,1980, theIndependence Day of Zimbabwe. Therefore, with China becoming a leadingeconomic actor in Africa, its relationship with Zimbabwe has grown tremendously.Engagements are now concentrated in different dimensions such as trade, investment,and economic and technical cooperation—across almost all sectors especiallyconstruction, mining, agriculture, energy, transport, IT and telecommunications,textile, tourism and military. However, as part of its Look East foreign policy strategy,Zimbabwe sought to strengthen its ties with China after a land reform program thatwas widely criticized from the West. The Zimbabwean Government places greatimportance on Zimbabwe's relations with China. Thus, Zimbabwe had to redirectpublic imagination towards a different identity at the domestic and international levelsin the face of sanctions from the West. Ties have deepened in line with Zimbabwe'sisolation from the traditional donors and China has been described as a majorinternational supporter of Zimbabwe due to their principle of non-interference ininternal affairs of a country. This dissertation makes an analysis of the bilateralcooperation of China-Zimbabwe relations since1980. The study comprises of fivechapters.Chapter one is the introduction which gives a background to the study. The lossof friendly actors in the West has had negative effects on Zimbabwean society whichhas had social, political and economic challenges. However, China has become thelargest investor, trader and aid donor and its bilateral relations with Zimbabwe haveincreased in recent years. The history of China and Zimbabwe is very important inthis study as it has significant effects on the contemporary relations. Therefore,Sino-Zimbabwe relations are analyzed in two broad phases since independence, thefirst covers from1980-1999and the second phase broadly consists of the period2003to present. Chapter1captures research questions and the main question which guidesthe study is: What were the driving forces/main reasons that led to the strengthening of China-Zimbabwe relations starting from2000that led to the formation of the LookEast Policy in2003? Was it a result of internal or external factors or a combination ofboth in Zimbabwe? Sub-questions include: Did China-Rhodesia (today's Zimbabwe)relations exist before the year1980?, has there been a noticeable difference with theapproach towards bilateral cooperation to present day and when did the Chinese startengaging with Africa? What have been China's contributions to the Zimbabweaneconomy and what is China getting from Zimbabwe? How well has thesecontributions been accepted by Zimbabwean government? Did the enhancedcooperation with China help stabilize Zimbabwe's economy and what are thechallenges, lessons and benefits of the cooperation? How is Chinese aid to Zimbabweor to Africa in general different from other aid donors such as the West? Among otherthings the chapter gives objectives, hypothesis, and rationale and defines key terms,literature review is mainly from what other scholars and authors have written beforeon the area under study. Secondary method of data collection was used in the study.Theoretical framework is based on interdependence theory. Robert O. Keohane andJoseph S. Nye define interdependence as reciprocal effects among countries or actors,resulting from "international transactions-flows of money, goods, people andmessages across international boundaries". Furthermore, Keohane and Nye note thatthe current international system is characterized by growing interdependence; themutual responsibility and dependency on others. In recent times, such transactionshave increased between China and Zimbabwe or with Africa at large. Since there is anelement of reciprocity or mutuality in the definition of Keohane and Nye there is awarranty to speak of interdependence and due to globalization, the need forinterdependence between different nations has become even more compelling.Therefore, the interdependence between China and Zimbabwe can best be describedby how each country is strategically positioned to help the other.Chapter two is the1stPhase of China-Zimbabwe relations which is from1980-1999. History forms the backbone of the study because it marks the beginningof an unfolding process of events between the political and diplomatic relationsbetween Zimbabwe and the People's Republic of China. Brief overview toSino-African relations is firstly given as noted in the study that China and Africa havehad a long history of trade relations and when African nations were struggling for theirindependence from imperialism and colonialism; the Chinese nation supported them intheir struggles by providing both material and moral assistance. Since then, a lot of cooperation between China and Africa has taken place especially under the FOCACwhich was established in October2000as an official forum to strengthen therelationship. A summary on the evolution of China's African Policy is also taken intoconsideration. The historical background to China-Rhodesia (today's Zimbabwe)relations is discussed were China backed President Mugabe's Zimbabwe AfricanNational Union (ZANU), one of the movements which fought for the liberation ofZimbabwe. ZANU was formed in1963as a rival organization to the late JoshuaNkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) which was under the support ofthe Soviet Union. Members of ZANU were dispatched to China to receive guerrillatraining and a lot of assistance came from China. Beijing was a valuable source ofsupport and inspiration in the liberation struggle for Zimbabwe. The two countriesformally established diplomatic relations on18April1980, the day of Zimbabwe'sindependence. Early Cooperation between China and Zimbabwe in Phase One(1980-1999) were boosted soon after independence; the governments of China andZimbabwe signed agreements ranging from economic and technical cooperation, tradeand investment promotion. The Chinese government offered considerable assistanceto Zimbabwe for its national development for example construction of the NationalSports Stadium in Harare was one of the major construction projects done by Chineseto the Zimbabwean government soon after independence. The relationship betweenZimbabwe and China broadened not only in the field of diplomacy but also ineconomic and social cooperation being emphasized on win-win cooperation.Cooperation between the two nations was a bit slow in the1stphase as compared tothe2ndphase.Chapter three delves into the main reasons that led to the strengthening ofChina-Zimbabwe relations. Firstly the land reform program of Zimbabwe was themain root of tension with the west which forced Zimbabwe to seek strong partnershipwith China. The land issue in Zimbabwe has had a permanent and forceful effect onZimbabwe's internal politics from as far back as colonialism were by the indigenouspeople lost their cattle and land to farm; they were pushed into Gwaai and ShanganiReserves where soil was infertile and the settlers created a colonial state. Tension overthe land reform reached a boiling point beginning of2000and the government had toredistribute land from the white farmers to the landless black Zimbabweans who weremainly settled in reserves where the soils were infertile and not good for agricultureand to avoid people resettling themselves. The bone of contention was the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the British government to provide funds for the purchase ofcommercial farmland for distribution as outlined in the1979Lancaster Houseagreement. Secondly, despite the end of the land reform program in2002, the westreacted negatively although most African countries were in support of the land reformprogram. Britain, US, EU, IMF, World Bank viewed it as a sign of the breakdown ofthe rule of law, an infringement on the people's rights, violation of democraticprinciples and an absence of transparency thereby imposing sanctions and cutting aidon Zimbabwe. The IMF declared Zimbabwe ineligible to use the general resources ofthe IMF and removed it from the list of countries that could borrow from its Povertyand Growth Facility and issued a formal declaration of non-co-operation withZimbabwe and suspended all technical assistance. Nonetheless, sanctions mainlyaffect the lives of ordinary people. Thirdly, this resulted in the country beingostracized by the international community, a development which marked thebeginning of a major economic meltdown affecting many sectors. In spite ofZimbabwe's endowment with natural resources there were high unemployment ratesand informal sector increase, persistent hyperinflation, brain drain and mass flight ofcitizens, health sector decline and increased poverty levels. Fourthly, China's positivereaction and support on the land reform was another major reason for Zimbabwe toseek strong partnership with China. Being one of the dominant forces inContemporary International Relations, China called for sanctions against Zimbabweto be lifted and shielded Zimbabwe from sanctions by the Security Council onnumerous occasions together with Russia. Therefore, the land reform, the responsesand reactions from the west which brought about sanctions on Zimbabwe and thecrises that affected economy of Zimbabwe were the main reasons that led Zimbabweto design its foreign policy and seek strong relations with China as the reform waswidely criticized by the West. Salvation for Zimbabwe came under the banner ofSouth-South cooperation and declared looking East as China offered support to theland reform. The move strengthened and deepened China-Zimbabwe relations inwhich the study goes into the2ndPhase of their bilateral cooperation.Chapter four is the2ndPhase, A new era to China-Zimbabwe relations which isfrom2003-present. There was an apparent intensification of relations in the secondphase as compared to the first one. It is important to note that as Zimbabweredesigned its Foreign Policy strategy to the East, particularly China; it also came inline with FOCAC, which was a new impulse of enhancing Sino-African relations. China's political-economic bilateral goals and relations in Africa are also defined in aformal document released in early2006, entitled China's African Policy. It outlinesthe PRC goal of creating ''a new type of strategic partnership with Africa'' consistingof diverse types of cooperation grounded in long-standing ''guiding'' Chinese foreignpolicy principles. The chapter begins by defining the Look East Policy as a newdimension to China-Zimbabwe relations as the strained relations between Westerncountries and Zimbabwe led to the latter to redesign its foreign policy after gettingeconomic and political support from Asian countries particularly China within theframework of the Look East Policy (LEP) which was formulated in2003. The policywhich provides an ideal venue for examining the closer ties with China ischaracterized by deepening bilateral relations between the two nations and dealingwith Zimbabwe's severe economic problems and estrangement from the west. As aresult of the policy, a number of new trade, investments and cooperationagreements were concluded and Zimbabwe has been unwaveringly consistent in itssupport for the one-China policy as well as for China's other core interests. The chaptergoes on to analyze Chinese investments projects in Zimbabwe with onset of the LookEast Policy in sectors such as construction, mining, agriculture, energy, transport, ITand telecommunications, textile, tourism and military. The Zimbabwe InvestmentCentre (ZIC) has reported the total value of Chinese projects in the country atUS$530-600million and in2008China reportedly became Zimbabwe's top investor.Thus, the Look East Policy, adopted by the Government has managed to unlockinvestment opportunities in the different sectors of the economy and an importantaspect is that China has proven willing to fund large-scale projects connected toeconomic development such as the deal with China Machine-Building InternationalCorporation to mine coal and build thermal power generators in Zimbabwe to reducethe country's electricity shortages and the construction of three coal-fired thermalpower stations. China-Zimbabwe trading relationship is also discussed where bilateraltrade relations have been strengthened with China becoming Zimbabwe's largesttrading partner. Furthermore, the chapter looks at the Implications of Look East policyand China's non-interference principle. China maintains a policy of non-interventionin the domestic concerns of a country which has found its grounds in Zimbabwe andAfrican continent as a whole. Look East Policy has experienced a positive responsefrom China. In the Security Council, the Chinese (as well as Russia) have acted toblock any U.N. sanctions or Security Council decisions against President Mugabe except calls for reconciliation. Strengthened China-Zimbabwe relations acrossdifferent key sectors reflect mutual benefit, equality, mutual trust, economic win-wincooperation and promoting cultural exchange. Chinese contributions have been wellaccepted in Zimbabwe and have managed to enhance the economy of Zimbabwethrough Chinese investments, loans, grants, improving infrastructure and their tradingrelationship. China has managed to get market for its finished products in Zimbabwe,securing access to raw materials/natural resources on which Harare has the world'ssecond largest platinum reserves from which fuel can be produced (including40different types of precious minerals), Chinese state companies have also beenawarded numerous mining rights in Zimbabwe, and farming vast acreages of land inZimbabwe. Lastly, through the Look East Policy, the Government was trying to courtEastern investors and political allies, namely China. However, Zimbabwe also hadrelations with other countries such as Brazil, India, Iran and Russia, although focus hasbeen on China from the beginning and much cooperation and trade has been withChina.Chapter five is the conclusion which wraps up the study. The chapter discussedkey challenges between China-Zimbabwe relations such as labour/employment issues,high competition of Chinese goods with locals, language barrier, perceptions, amongothers mentioned in the study. Although challenges exist, lessons are also drawn fromthe bilateral cooperation. Recommendations are given and finally a conclusion.Among other sub-questions addressed in the body of the study the aim was to find themain reasons or driving forces that led to the strengthening of the two nations'relations from2000which led to the formation of the much talked about Look EastPolicy. So the land reform coupled with internal, external factors, sanctions andestrangement from the West played a role in the strengthening of China-Zimbabwerelations. China's support of Zimbabwe's land reform also strengthened ties. WithChina fast becoming a new economic hub of the world China-Zimbabwe relationswhich date back to Zimbabwe's liberation struggle where China provided moral andmaterial support have grown and changed significantly over the years and ties arelikely to remain cordial.