Zimbabwe chooses China

Robert Mugabe kicked out the productive farmers because they were white. But he didn't give the land to farmers, but to his cronies. So Zimbabwe that used to export food, especially when it was Rhodesia under colonialism, is now starving.

Western countries are willing to give aid, but they expect Mugabe to do things he can't do, like have elections or stop killing his own people. But Mugabe has found a country that likes him as he is - the Communists of China.

This New York Times/International Herald-Tribune article is a lesson in avoiding the real issues. The reporter blandly covers the friendship of China and Mugabe without managing to mention the murderous actions of Mugabe.

Rather than mention what Mugabe did, he is interested in the blue tiles on the roof of Mugabe's 25-bedroom $13,000,000 palace. To Michael Wines Mugabe is a "canny autocrat," not the known killer of his own people.

Highlight: the people of Zimbabwe find the influx of China-made goods to be substandard. Their term for the problem: "zhong-zhong."

For Mugabe the highlight is "... Atop the list is for China to train Zimbabweans in managing prisons.

"They have a fairly advanced prison system," Zimbabwe's minister of justice, Patrick Chinamasa said. "We would like to tap into their expertise."

Yes, China's prison system is world reknowned for imprisoning and torturing political opponents. Mugabe can learn from the Chinese Communists.