China is publicly handing out money and equipment to help fight the spread of coronavirus in Zimbabwe. But Beijing\u2019s generosity has made some very wary.<\/p>\n
Until now most in Zimbabwe have accepted that China\u2019s aid and investment strategy in the country is usually tied to infrastructure development.<\/p>\n
The partnership announced this week between the China Gezhouba Group and a Zimbabwean company to build a new coal-fired power station worth three billion US dollars fits much better into the business mould Zimbabweans and Zimbabwe business watchers have come to expect.<\/p>\n
Critics call the new trend, replicated in several African countries, of shipping medical supplies and offering financial support for primary health care China\u2019s \u201ccoronavirus diplomacy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cChina has been extremely active in pushing out support to a host of countries needing assistance to tackle Covid-19,\u201d Piers Pigou, southern Africa consultant with the International Crisis Group, tells RFI.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may well be expending more energy on profiling these contributions in the face of bad press relating to its responsibilities around managing and communicating around the initial stages of the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
China is publicly handing out money and equipment to help fight the spread of coronavirus in Zimbabwe. But Beijing\u2019s generosity has made some very wary. Until now most in Zimbabwe have accepted that China\u2019s aid and investment strategy in the country is usually tied to infrastructure development. The partnership announced this week between the China […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":21798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1361,7],"tags":[792,1279],"class_list":{"0":"post-22768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-coronavirus-in-zimbabwe","9":"category-files","10":"tag-china-zimbabwe-relations","11":"tag-coronavirus-in-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\n