The Zimbabwe Media Alliance (MAZ) accused the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe of “intimidating” a local newspaper on Wednesday. standard The Voice of America (VOA) reported following the publication of articles about alleged “infringement by Chinese mining companies”.
MAZ said the Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, “threatens to take unspecified ‘strong measures’ against the Standard newspaper”, US government-funded Voice of America reported on July 20.
China’s Embassy in Harare said on July 11 that it would take “strong countermeasures”. standard and a US-based NGO named the Information Foundation for Development (IDT) in connection with the alleged fraud promoted by the two organizations, including “anti-Chinese news.”
“The Embassy is outraged by a series of articles published by an independent weekly newspaper exposing the corruption, employee abuse and environmentally harmful practices of Chinese companies in Zimbabwe,” news site ZimLive reported on July 13.
In a harsh two-page statement on July 11, the embassy accused The Standard and IDT of being “opinion tyrants and scoundrels”, according to ZimLive.
A Zimbabwean news agency published an excerpt from a letter from the Chinese embassy:
The embassy will never host any Chinese company that violates Zimbabwean laws. However, the embassy will never tolerate political manipulation and baseless slander that fuels anti-Chinese sentiment, and will take strong measures to protect China’s image, the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, and friendly relations between China and Zimbabwe.
He also accused the embassy standard About contacting IDT to publish offensive articles, saying they “receiving funding from the US embassy to incite anti-Chinese sentiment.”
“There is evidence that these articles are the product of external funding and practice by some local NGOs,” the Chinese embassy wrote in a letter. Said.
“We do not deny that there are some problems with some Chinese companies. […] However, some malicious people exaggerate the crimes of some Chinese companies and blame the entire Chinese community in Zimbabwe by exaggerating the problems,” he said.
IDT operates as an affiliate of the Global Network of Investigative Journalists (GIJN), a “non-profit organization registered in the US state of Maryland,” according to its official website.
“GIJN receives generous core support from a variety of foundations, including the Mr and Paul Foundations, Ford Foundation, Humanity United, Craig Newmark Philanthropists, Nicholas Puech Foundation, Oak Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and Reva and David Logan. Foundation”. . stated on the organization’s website.
StandardEditor Kholwani Nyathi responded to a July 11 letter from the Chinese embassy, accusing Beijing of “intimidating”.
“All the Chinese companies we wrote to were given the opportunity to respond to allegations made against them, and most ignored our questions and only responded through the embassy or their proxies,” Nyati told ZimLive on July 13.
Applied to any organization with objections Standard reporting, either contacting the broadcast directly or using the “accessible press grievance mechanisms” in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is home to many Chinese-owned mining projects due to Harare’s membership in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). BRI is a program funded by the Chinese government that allows Beijing to finance new infrastructure projects in developing or low-income countries, often through dubious loan structures. Observers have criticized BRI loans for their bias towards poorer countries with more debt.
Zimbabwe has been one of the poorest countries in the world for decades due to the heavy mismanagement and corruption of the socialist government. The landlocked southern African country allows the Chinese government to conduct some mining operations within its borders as part of the BRI agreement.
Chinese citizens typically conduct these mining operations while overseeing the work of local Zimbabweans and various African immigrants. This dynamic is regularly grappling with conflict, with Chinese citizens often blamed or condemned for creating dangerous conditions for their African workers. In June 2020, a Chinese gold mine manager in central Zimbabwe shot and killed two former African workers of the gold mine. Violence erupted after two Africans demanded a refund of a Chinese national’s salary.
Source: Breitbart
