China on Friday urged all sides in Zimbabwe to respect the result of the presidential election which was won by a long-time Beijing ally but contested as “fake” by the Opposition.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power after veteran leader Robert Mugabe was ousted late last year, was declared the winner with 50.8% of the vote.
“As a friendly nation to Zimbabwe, we call upon relevant parties to put the interest of the country and the people first and respect the choice made by the Zimbabwean people,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press briefing. “We hope the international community will join us to make contributions to upholding the peace and development of Zimbabwe,” he said.
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President Xi Jinping hailed Mr. Mnangagwa, who received military training in China when he was a young liberation fighter in the 1960s, as an “old friend” of the Asian powerhouse when he visited Beijing in April.
China had been one of Mr. Mugabe’s most powerful allies, but as the West shunned him over his government’s human rights violations, it avoided publicly taking sides during his ousting.