By Mafa Kwanisai Mafa
IN a mere three decades, the People’s Republic of China has undergone a transformation that has sent tremors through the bastions of Western hegemony.
It has evolved from a nation once
broken by foreign gunboats and addiction, to the second largest economy in the world, the
epicentre of global industry, and the most potent non-Western superpower in modern history.
But this rise has not been carved by war, occupation or looting. Instead, China has shown the world a model of sovereign advancement, rooted in cultural pride, technological self-
determination, and strategic defiance of imperialist dictates.
For a country like Zimbabwe,
still bleeding from the wounds of settler-colonialism and economic sabotage, China’s
trajectory is not only enlightening — it is revolutionary.
Where the West seeks to dominate through destabilisation and dependency, China
exemplifies empowerment through internal strength and international cooperation.
Zimbabwe’s second liberation will not come from Western ballot boxes or Bretton Woods
conditionalities, but from the furnace of nationalist will and socialist reconstruction. Let
China’s experience be our North Star.
Breaking the chains of historical subjugation
When imperial powers could not match China’s goods with equal value, they resorted to
parasitism.
They inundated Chinese society with narcotics, not for medical purposes but as a
weapon of war — a slow, psychological and cultural war, designed to rot the soul of a proud
people. When the Chinese resisted, the response was not negotiation, but bombardment.
Western powers carved humiliating treaties into the skin of the Chinese nation, stripping it of
ports, pride and sovereignty.
Fast forward to today: The same powers that once floated opium chests into Chinese
harbours now attempt to asphyxiate its rise through tariffs, tech blacklists and economic
warfare.
The enemy has changed weapons, but not intentions.
This is the lesson: The West never accepts the independence of others unless it is feigned or conditional.
Zimbabwe, too, has felt the bite of this imperial dog. Our land reform, a necessary
correction of historical theft, was not met with applause but with sanctions and media campaign smears.
When we stood up to reclaim what colonialism had stolen, the empire responded with
economic sabotage.
Like China, we must boldly and unapologetically declare to the world: Never again!
The arsenal of peace: Military might without aggression
China’s re-emergence as a military power has left Western strategists bewildered and uneasy.
But this is not the rise of a new conqueror — it is the return of a sleeping dragon to its
ancestral post.
Long before Europe mastered metallurgy, Chinese inventors had turned saltpeter into explosive force, wielded early cannons, and developed battlefield technologies centuries ahead of their time. What we witness today is not a sudden surge, but a renaissance.
But unlike the West, which uses its arsenals to bomb nations into submission, China uses its
strength to prevent war, not to initiate it. It builds ports, not prisons; highways, not no-fly zones.
It is this doctrine of defence through deterrence that Zimbabwe must embrace. As long as we depend on others for the defence of our sovereignty, we will always be vulnerable
to external puppeteering.
Zimbabwe must invest in indigenous defence industries, just as China invested in homegrown
technology and cybersecurity. Sovereignty without defence is an illusion.
Science as the new liberation struggle
In every critical field — from AI to
biotechnology, from renewable energy to quantum computing — China has not begged for
Western charity. It has cultivated its own ecosystems of innovation, often outspending the
West in real terms.
Meanwhile, the US and its allies dismiss these gains as theft; It is not theft that
they fear — it is parity. They are terrified of a non-Western civilisation matching, and then
surpassing, theirs on the global stage. They are desperate to preserve their monopolies,
whether in information, pharmaceuticals or financial systems.
Zimbabwe must take heed. Our universities must not be colonial appendages recycling
Western syllabi. They must become centres of revolutionary knowledge production. We must
fund research that speaks to our soils, our climate, our people. We must build technological
self-sufficiency as if it were a matter of national security — because it is.
Taiwan and the anatomy of a nation undivided
Taiwan is not a fringe issue for China. It is the scar tissue of imperial fragmentation. For
centuries, it was part of the Chinese cultural and political body, and it was only ripped away
by colonial machinations and gunboat diplomacy. For China, Taiwan is not of strategic interest — it is kin, it is identity, it is unfinished business.
This is more than geopolitical posturing. It is about restoring the integrity of a civilisation
wounded by Western scalpels.
Zimbabwe, too, must understand the danger of division.
Our nationhood must not be for sale, whether through secessionist rhetoric, comprador elites
or foreign-aligned NGOs undermining the State.
We must reject maps drawn in foreign capitals, ideologies funded by foreign embassies, and
media narratives engineered to fracture our national unity. Just as China refuses to let Taiwan
become a Western outpost, Zimbabwe must refuse to let its own soul be sold to the highest
foreign bidder.
Harmony without hegemony: The Chinese alternative to empire
Where the US drowns the world in drone warfare, regime change and economic extortion, China offers a radically different vision: infrastructure over intimidation. The Belt and Road Initiative is not just about trade; it is about building a new world order where development is mutual, not exploitative. Unlike the IMF, China does not ask you to starve your people in exchange for a loan. Unlike NATO, it does not ask you to bomb your
neighbours for the illusion of security.
The Western world order is crumbling because it is built on violence, lies and theft. The
Chinese model is rising because it is rooted in cooperation, respect and shared progress.
Zimbabwe must align itself with this new tide. We must build partnerships that respect our
sovereignty and reject those that aim to recolonise us through debt, dependency, or digital
colonisation. Our future lies not in begging former colonisers for crumbs, but in standing
shoulder to shoulder with fellow Global South nations charting a new course.
Deng Xiaoping and the revolutionary doctrine of non-submission
”We value friendship,” Deng Xiaoping once said, “but we treasure autonomy more.”
That principle has guided China’s rise: a fierce defence of self-rule, even in the face of isolation or pressure. China did not sell its soul for World Bank ratings or Davos applause. It walked its
own path, often alone, but always with its head held high.
Zimbabwe must embody this same ethos. Our revolution was not fought so that we could
become a neo-liberal experiment or a Western puppet. It was fought for land, for dignity, for
control over our own destiny. Let us not trade that birthright for Western aid packages or
ideological supervision.
Zimbabwe’s call to the future
China has proven that a nation humiliated by the West can rise from the ashes, forge a new
identity, and become a beacon for others. It has shattered the myth that only the West can
modernise; only the West can lead; only the West can innovate.
Zimbabwe must learn and act. We must abandon the illusion that our salvation lies in Western approval or Western funds. Instead, we must invest in our people, assert our sovereignty, defend our land, and re-imagine our role in a multipolar world.
Our revolution is not over. It has merely entered a new phase. And in this phase, let China be
a comrade, not a master; an inspiration, not a model to copy blindly.
The struggle continues.
And this time, we fight not just for freedom from colonial chains, but for freedom to shape our own future.
Will we rise with the East’s red dawn, or be buried beneath the West’s crumbling empire — the choice is ours!