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Correspondent

The excellent bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and China have roots and support from the cooperation of the countries’ governing parties, Zanu PF and the Communist Party of China (CPC), which has gone on for over half a century. 

The CPC, under Chairman Mao Zedong, established an internationalist liberation philosophy that saw China support independence movements and parties, from which Zimbabwe’s Zanu derived both material and ideological support. 

Zanu, as one of the leading nationalist movements, formed its military wing — the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (Zanla) — and got support from China to prosecute the liberation struggle in Zimbabwe. 

Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), the other major military wing, under the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) was supported by the Soviet Union, now Russia. 

Zanla’s guerilla warfare, particularly the concept of “fish and water” in which liberation fighters and masses cooperated symbiotically, was derived from China, while Chairman Mao’s various teachings and philosophies became a bible to the liberation movement. 

Zimbabwe attained its Independence from Britain in 1980, thanks largely to Chinese support; and over the years, the two liberation movements and governing parties have continued to cooperate in a consistent and principled manner. 

This past week saw the high-level visit of a delegation of the CPC to Zimbabwe, led by Cde Jiang Xinzhi, vice chairman of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Cde Jiang, also deputy head of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commit-tee, met President Mnangagwa, who is the First Secretary of Zanu PF, before interacting with the party led by chairman Oppah Muchinguri. 

During his meeting with the Zanu PF first secretary and President, Cde Jiang said under the strategic guidance of the leadership of both countries, China-Zimbabwe relations had become a model of China-Africa and South-South cooperation. He also revealed that the CPC stood ready to strengthen high-level exchanges with ZANU PF, deepen exchanges of experience in party and state governance, and promote further in-depth development of the China-Zimbabwe comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

On the other hand, President Mnangagwa thanked China for supporting Zimbabwe’s national liberation and development; and emphasised that Zimbabwe was willing to strengthen inter-party exchanges and practical cooperation in various fields with China to jointly elevate bilateral relations to a new level. 

Interestingly, President Mnangagwa was among the earliest beneficiaries of China’s liberation support and received training in China in 1961. He thus remains a link to the foundational past and future relations of the two sides. 

Significance

The visit by Cde Jiang is important in that it reaffirms strong bonds of friendship between the two liberation parties, CPC and Zanu PF, which is an important foundation for State-level cooperation between Zimbabwe and China; whose relations have grown deeper each passing year and are a part of growth nodes towards a new international order. 

Less than 24 months ago, in July 2022, Zimbabwe received yet another important visit from China when Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi came to Harare. Cde Yang conveyed the support and goodwill of China and CPC General Secretary, President Xi Jinping, and revealed that China was ready to further strengthen all-round exchanges between the two parties, governments, militaries, and peoples and conduct in-depth exchanges of governance experience with Zimbabwe. 

Cde Yang further stated that China was ready to provide more support for Zimbabwe’s economic and social development as well as cooperation in light of global developments in the international arena, including fully coordinating its position with Zimbabwe on multilateral affairs, jointly upholding the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, and make the global governance system more just and equitable.

These two visits by high-ranking party officials from China are significant in that they attest to the strong political base between the two countries, which is the reason why good relations and friendship between the two sides will continue to grow because they are anchored on mutual respect, shared principles, understanding, and a shared worldview. 

Further, the visits cement President Xi’s commitment to building lasting relations with its brotherly liberation move-ments across the world, including in Africa.

Exactly a year ago, General Secretary Xi hosted the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-level Meeting in Beijing and delivered a keynote speech titled, “Join Hands on the Path Towards Modernization”. 

During the address, President Xi stressed that the CPC was committed to strengthening exchanges and cooperation with other political parties to pursue the just cause together. 

He said the CPC was ready to deepen interactions with political parties and organizations in other countries to expand the convergence of ideas and interests. He called on all to leverage the strength of a new type of party-to-party relations for the building of a new type of international relations and expand global partnerships by fostering stronger partners with world political parties. 

 The CPC, said he, stood ready to share governance experience with political parties and organizations of other countries so that together they can make big strides on the path to modernization toward the goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind. 

Further, the Chinese leader said the CPC was willing to work with all other parties to ensure that different modernisation drives form a mighty force driving prosperity and progress of the world and stated that, confronted with a series of questions related to modernisation, political parties were an important force steering and driving the modernisation process while China’s future was closely connected with that of other countries and peoples. 

Thus, said President Xi, the CPC would strive to provide new opportunities for world development, add new impetus to humanity’s exploration of paths towards modernisation and make new contributions to the theory and practice of humanity’s modernisation as it makes new progress in Chinese modernisation. 

The visit by Cde Jiang is a testament to the sincerity of the CPC, with President Xi at the leadership core. There is a healthy relationship between the two countries’ ruling parties, which inform national and State policies. 

The continued friendship between China and ruling parties in Africa such as Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF; South Africa’s ANC, Namibia’s MPLA, and Mozambique’s Frelimo, are therefore key building blocks of strong cooperation in the Global South. Interestingly, Africa’s liberation movements, including the ones mentioned above, are themselves united and recently met in Zimbabwe.

Way forward

Zanu PF and CPC should forge ahead with, and deepen friendly relations, which do inform national and State-level cooperation, as well as multilateral engagement. The relationship must be continuously renewed and energised, in particular with the fusion of young people to build on where the older generation started from. 

There is thus a need for strong measures, matrices, and frameworks to ensure the mainstreaming of youth, as well as women, to participate in party-level interactions. This will ensure the future of the two sides.

At the same time, the CPC — which celebrated its centenary three years ago -should assist younger liberation parties on the continent through capacity building at organisational and State levels. 

Several writings have been dedicated to what lessons can be learned from the CPC, and they include directions on internal party organisation and discipline, cadre development and deployment, the Party’s supremacy over government and the military, and zero tolerance towards corruption among others. 

In essence, parties such as Zanu PF could learn a lot from the CPC in theory and practice, to ensure their longevity and progressiveness. At the same time, there is an emphasis on mutual learning and sharing experiences, meaning that parties such as Zanu PF can share lessons and approaches with their Chinese counterparts. The varied backgrounds and experiences will enrich the exchanges and possibly lead to the building of new theories in governance. The visit by Cde Jiang, when seen from various angles, illuminates on the strength, potential, and imperative for the cooperation of liberation parties such as Zanu PF with China which lends a strong base for alignment with global political issues.