China refused to allow Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, to take part in the opening session of the Olympic Games, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The paper said Mugabe had traveled to Hong Kong but was then persuaded by China to go home.
While the report was not confirmed, it is consistent with China's increasing desire to distance itself from pariah states in Africa and elsewhere that used to be treated as old friends. Mugabe has become an embarrassment and Beijing reportedly put pressure on him to conduct negotiations with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change on a possible government of national unity.
Another African country that has drawn intensive Western criticism is Sudan, whose government is accused of waging a genocidal campaign in Darfur. So closely is China identified with the government of President Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir that a campaign was waged by the actress Mia Farrow to dub the Beijing Games the "Genocide Olympics."