The BBC reported today that China is sending 5,000 metric tons of food aid to Zimbabwe to help the African nation cope with dire food shortages. According to the UN World Food Programme, poor agricultural policies, a declining economy and poor harvest in 2007 have left the African nation with a 1m ton shortfall.
Shunned by Western leaders and investors, Mugabe's government has turned to Beijing to solve these problems. The two countries established amicable relations in the 1980s, when they both shared the same Marxist ideology (and arguably still do...), and have remained allies ever since. The bond, it would seem, is rooted in a common thinking, one that is based on regime security rather than human security.