Yesterday, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe made his 13th trip to China, receiving a warm welcome from President Xi Jinping and his wife as well as an impressive military display. Mugabe, accompanied by his own wife and ministers from various sectors, met with Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The 90-year-old is Africa’s longest-serving leader, having risen to power during Zimbabwe's struggle against white minority rule in the 1970s. Although initially celebrated throughout the continent as an independence hero, however, Mugabe is better known today for his blatant human rights abuses, election-rigging, economic mismanagement and generally producing some of the lowest living standard and public health conditions in the world.
However, Mugabe’s trip was not just to pop in on an old friend — he also came cap in hand, asking for more Chinese investment in country's troubled economy, which Mugabe has successfully run into the ground over the years. With unemployment at 80% and hyperinflation exceeding Weimar Republic-levels, that's gonna take a lot of RMB.
Mugabe — unlike most Chinese Communist Party leaders today — has long been a dedicated follower of Maoism, and met with former President Deng Xiaoping on three occasions.
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