Engaging with China’s Soft Power in Zimbabwe: Harare Citizens’ Perceptions of China-Zimbabwe Relations

Africans have responded to China’s growing soft power or charm offensive in many ways but this has hardly been studied. Mano investigates the responses to China’s soft power in Zimbabwe, a key ally with a Look East “policy’ since 2002. While “win-win” trade, media and cultural linkages between China and Zimbabwe have been growing rarely has there been research focused on how this has influenced how Beijing is perceived amongst Africans. Using a survey of residents of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, Mano investigates the emerging perceptions of China’s interventions in Zimbabwe. The findings contradict official claims of a mutually beneficial cosy South-South relationship. Harare residents predominantly perceive China as a “new colonial” power out to “loot” Zimbabwe’s natural resources. They criticise China’s obsession with profits at the expense of human rights. The chapter discusses such views in relation to media portrayal of China. Beijing will need to do more to reassure people in Harare and other places in the Global South about its real intentions in human development