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China gives Zimbabwe military equipment worth US$28 million to boost security and modernise defence forces
- The donation includes armoured vehicles, patrol boats, sniper rifles, machine guns and mini buses
- Beijing is key ally of Harare, which has faced sanctions from the West, while China sees the African country as strategic base for spreading influence
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China has donated military equipment worth 200 million yuan (US$28 million) to Zimbabwe to bolster the country’s security operations and help modernise its armed forces.
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The equipment includes armoured vehicles, personnel carriers, ambulances, motorised water purifiers, patrol boats, minibuses, sniper rifles, machine guns and hand pistols.
While receiving the donation at an army barracks near the capital Harare on Wednesday, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa expressed “gratitude” to China for its generosity and the “ongoing relationship” between the two countries.
“This is a result of the unparalleled strategic partnership that exists between Zimbabwe and China,” said Mnangagwa, who in August won a second and final term.
Mnangagwa said the equipment “will go a long way towards consolidating our ongoing quest to modernise the [Zimbabwe Defence Forces]”.
China has become a key ally of Zimbabwe, especially since the US and other Western countries imposed sanctions on Harare over human rights violations and the seizure of land from white farmers while former leader Robert Mugabe was in power. Many Western countries, including the US, have maintained an arms embargo against the country because of its poor record on human rights.
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