President Emmerson Mnangagwa has paid his condolences to the People’s Republic of China following the death of former President Jiang Zemin on the 30th of November.
Mnangagwa visited the Chinese Embassy in Harare this Monday to sign a condolences book.
He was accompanied by Vice President General (Retired) Constantino Chiwenga and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Ambassador Fredrick Shava.
Mnangagwa said Zemin was instrumental in cementing the existing relations between Zimbabwe and China. ZBC News cites him as saying:
I am deeply saddened by the death of the former President of the People’s Republic of China H.E Cde Jiang Zemin. In Cde Jiang Zemin, China and indeed the progressive world, have lost a great Stateman and accomplished international diplomat who contributed to the greater cooperation between China and the international community. I personally have fond memories of my personal interaction with the late Cde Jiang Zemin in 1996, when he paid a visit to Zimbabwe on a State visit and I was assigned by the late President R. G. Mugabe to accompany him. The visit was successful and cemented the excellent relations we enjoy today between the Republic of Zimbabwe and the People’s Republic of China. May I once again express my deepest condolences to the people of the People’s Republic of China and the family of Cde Jiang Zemin on this loss.
Zemin served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1989 to 2002, as Chairperson of the Military Commission from 1989 to 2004 and as President of China from 1993 to 2003.
Chinese state media said the 89-year-old succumbed to leukaemia and multiple organ failure in Shanghai.
Jiang had faded from public sight and last appeared publicly alongside current and former leaders atop Beijing’s Tiananmen gate at a 2019 military parade celebrating the party’s 70th anniversary in power.
He was absent from a major party congress last month where former leaders are given seats in recognition of their service.