re: China calling the shots in Zimbabwe

Rhodesia once provided most of the grain for the continent of Africa and outside of a few drought years exported to other countries. It has become a importer exclusively now and the country's debt to gdp is out of control.
Rhodesia oddly enough was the only western country that was abandoned by both Britain in 1965 and then the United States during the Nixon adm via negotiations with Germany who supported the country at the time as well. Israel was the final supporter of Rhodesia in the end until the Marxist elected Mugabe government took over. Israel feared the influx of Marxists regimes impact on the region. They were proven correct.