[Nice! I like! I like! It is great seeing Mugabe drawing the ire of the Asians. The Asians have a lot of clout. They could help to sink him. Jan]

Japan – one of the richest country in the world and a member of the G8 – says it is not pleased with President Bingu wa Mutharika™s soft treatment of Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe. The Tokyo government has also expressed disapproval of the political and financial support that China and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) is rendering to Mugabe™s regime. But Minister of Information Patricia Kaliati said on Thursday government does not regret honouring Mugabe. “By morally and materially supporting Mugabe and his regime, Malawi and anyone else, will be setting a bad precedent. It is a tragic reflection of governance in your country and all those that are worshipping this dictator,” Dr Sadaharu Kataoka, advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said in Tokyo on Wednesday. Kataoka, who advises Koizumi on African affairs and is also associate professor of the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University, was addressing African journalists on a tour of duty of Japan.

He said Japan and other members of the world™s eight most industrialised nations would maintain a hard line policy against Mugabe by sustaining travel and economic sanctions on the Harare administration. “Japan and other members of the G8 maintain a travel ban policy on Mugabe. We stopped economic ties with his government because he and his family are practising personalised politics. This has sunk Zimbabwe, which was a big exporter hitherto, into serious economic and governance problems,” Kataoka said. The foreign affairs expert said Japan and the developed world was surprised to learn of Mutharika™s hero-worshipping of Mugabe during his recent state visit to the country. But Kaliati described Kataoka as a bad advisor to Koizumi “if his statement were meant to discredit our government. We do not regret honouring Mugabe and people from other countries should not interfere with issues that do not concern them. Malawi is not going to follow whatever they say. He (Kataoka) is not a good advisor,” said Kaliati.

Kataoka said equally disturbing is the laxity of South African President Thabo Mbeki to whip his northern neighbour in line with expectations of the donor community and the cash-strapped people of Zimbabwe. “If it was Nelson Mandela, Mugabe would have started to listen. The venerable Mandela would have put the necessary pressure on him, but Mbeki appears lax,” he said. Kataoka said Japan is also protesting China™s sweeping policy and financial aid to Mugabe and other African countries as this could undermine democracy on the continent and reinforce dictatorship. He said China was a communist dictatorship which looked bent on pampering other African dictators. “China is building roads, stadiums and other infrastructure in Africa using its prisoners. It is also supporting a number of African countries militarily. This is not by the will of the people of China but communist dictatorship. Japan as a democracy protests such ideologies,” said Kataoka.

China has recently been pumping a lot of money to Zimbabwe, which sources say has helped Mugabe™s administration clear outstanding debts with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and top up salaries in the civil service to cushion a bludgeoning inflation of about 1000 percent. The government of Hu Jintao is also making in roads in West Africa where it has staked more than US$100 million for rehabilitating and building football stadia in Ghana, which is preparing to host the African Cup of Nations in 2008. This month, President Bingu wa Mutharika went ahead to name a road in Blantyre after Mugabe despite advice from civil society that doing so would set a bad precedent. Diplomats were also reported to be angry with Mutharika™s kid gloves over Mugabe. Malawi™s exports to Japan were pegged at K3.6 billion as of last year according to figures at Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro). The country sells tobacco, tea, coffee, and fish to Japan.

From The Nation (Malawi), 19 May
Mugabe visit angers Japan
By Frank Phiri in Tokyo
Source: WWW.ZwNews.Com