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The House that Mao built
posted Saturday, 21 October 2006
'China has been acting to prop up a failing militaristic dictatorship. A country whose government has destroyed its own economy, brutalized its own people, spent money on guns and grandiose face building schemes while its people starved, and which has systematical blamed the Western powers for its failure to advance.'
Sounds familiar? Yes
Sounds like North Korea? No
While the Sino-North Korea relationship has been hitting the headlines of late; primarily because of the latter's newly demonstrated ability to threaten western interests, Beijing's verbose neighbor is not the only less that than admirable allies regime currently on China's speed-dial, or the only such regime to be looking to China for the support that the Western powers have refused to give.
Development Assistance
According to reports, Ignatius Chombo, a senior minister in the Zimbabwean government, has, earlier this month, approached members visiting delegation from Hubei province; offering to enter into a joint development program with Chinese companies to tackle Zimbabwe's chronic urban development problems, and urging them to arrange meetings with proponent Chinese businessmen and property developers in time for the arrival of Zimbabwe's next delegation to China.
| "When we pay a reciprocal visit, we want to meet the businesspeople and invite them to invest in Zimbabwe" Ignatius Chombo, Minister for Local Government Public Works and Urban Development, Zimbabwe |
Reports go on to say that Chombo told the visiting officials that Zimbabwe was specifically looking to employ Chinese construction interest to develop its urban road, water and sewage infrastructure, and to convert select population centers into high density high rise housing units, similar to those found in many Chinese cities.
| "We were used to large stands, which consume a lot of land. We should now begin to density and house more people. It is also cheaper to provide electricity and water on such housing units." Ignatius Chombo, Minister for Local Government Public Works and Urban Development, Zimbabwe |
Payment?
In the past, this meant that Beijing would likely have quickly agreed to agreed such an offer from Harare, on the grounds of face alone, however things are not so certain today.
In the past, China has offered favorable terms on construction and development to Zimbabwe and many other countries that have 'fallen out' with the West, in exchange for influence and soft power. Or in exchange for continuing commitment to the 'One China' principle. More recently, China has sought to transform its relationship with many countries into something more economically favorable one. Seeking to create overseas opportunities for Chinese businesses in markets that are difficult for western competitors to enter, and access to resources in countries that lack the ability to fully exploit them.
With the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy, it remains unclear how Harare would pay for work to be done by Chinese construction companies. Though observers have speculated, based on past deals, that any arrangement may include the rights for Chinese developers to construct premium rate properties for sale on the open market, preferential investment opportunities for Chinese firms in Zimbabwe's mineral and agricultural sectors, and preferential treatment for Chinese businesses seeking to operate in Zimbabwe's domestic markets.
Despite having invested heavily in sectors with clear returns, including the mineral, power generation and agricultural sectors, China has previously refused to assist Zimbabwe in other areas because of concerns that Harare might not be able to repay its depts.
One example of this was in August 2005, when Beijing refused to extend a $US1 billion foreign currency loans to Zimbabwe, after concerns were raised that the impoverished African nation might default.
| "While they [the Chinese] are willing to provide infrastructural help on generous credit terms, they are not willing to throw huge amounts of money at us" Negotiator, Zimbabwean (August 2005) |
The loan was refused despite the offers of substantial domestic concessions, believed to include rights to farm prime agricultural land on a commercial basis, and 'favorable opportunities' in Zimbabwe's platinum mining sector.
Housing Shortage
Although Zimbabwe has been experiencing housing shortages for some time, and chronic problems with low quality housing, the situation was moved to crisis levels in 2005 when state security forces moved in to demolish shanty towns that had been constructed by landless people who had colonized previously cleared land which Harare had failed to develop.
According to Harare, the shanty towns were demolished as part of an urban regeneration campaign in which a few illegal homes would be demolished in order to make was for higher quality residential areas.
| "We are constructing brand new houses, mending those which require to be mended, where it is necessary to destroy some. But the thrust is a reconstruction one a positive thrust to rebuild things" Robert Mugabe, President, Zimbabwe |
A substantial portion of the cleared land had earlier been confiscated from foreign settlers, and promised to core Mugabe supporters under a controversial land redistribution scheme that lead to the collapse of Zimbabwe's agricultural sector; destroying the country's lucrative grain export market, and plunging it into near famine conditions where 1 in 3 Zimbabweans are reliant on food aid.
Harare had promised to construct over a million new homes to replace those that were demolished. To date, only 3000 new homes have so far been constructed.
An estimated 700,000 people were displaced during the clearance
Urban Expansion?
According to Chombo, Zimbabwe's urban areas require significant expansion because increasing prosperity prosperity had made the country's cities a more attractive place to live.
| "Because of improved health and education standards in urban centers, our people are moving into the towns and cities to benefit from these facilities" Ignatius Chombo |
In contrast to this, observers have cited rural poverty, unemployment, and intimidation of opposition member in the countryside, where much of the government's power base is located, as core reasons for population migration.
View Comments/Add a Comment (2)
1. Michael left...
Wednesday, 25 October 2006 12:57 am :: http://china.notspecial.org/
Hey... glad to see you're available in China again. Am I correct in
thinking that you were banned previously? In any case, I haven't visited in
a while because I thought you were.
2. ACB left...
Wednesday, 25 October 2006 2:36 am :: http://angrychineseblogger.blog-city.com
The entire of Blog-city was banned ages ago. I can't take any credit fo rit
though, it was because of the Michael An-ti blog.