As the battle between Chinese companies and civil society groups in Zimbabwe drags on, spokespeople for the Chinese side are drawing on some evergreen classics of Africa-China discourse: language barriers and unfair press coverage.

Speaking at a panel discussion on the toxic relations between Chinese investors and a consortium of social rights groups, that has also drawn in the embassy and the Zimbabwean government, Steve Ke Zhao the chair of African Empire Group, said local media was unnecessarily stereotyping Chinese investors while failing to separate “the bad apples” from the lot.

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