Early this year Grace Mugabe, the wife of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe, was involved in a punching incident that got Sunday Times photographer Richard Jones into trouble. Mugabe punched Jones in the face as the latter tried to take photo of the first lady. Diplomatic immunity allowed Grace Mugabe to walk free from the fracas and she was able to continue her shopping spree in Hong Kong’s luxury boutiques while staying in an equally luxurious room at Shangri-La. The family also owns a HK$40m home in Tai Po in the north of Hong Kong while Bona, the couple’s child, is taking her studies at University of Hong Kong.

Why did the family choose Hong Kong over other places like Europe or America?

There are two reasons behind this:

1) Zimbabwe and China, of which Hong Kong is a special region, maintain close relationship that dates back during the late ’70s. At the time Robert Mugabe sought the aid of the Soviet Union for Zimbabwe African National Union but was rebuffed. The rejection led Mugabe to turn to China, which accepted the invitation for partnership. Each has its interests; Zimbabwe looks to China for military hardware and China has interests in Zimbabwe’s natural resources, such as diamonds and platinum.

2) More than 100 top Zimbabwe officials, including President Mugabe, are banned from entering the European Union and his assets in the 27-nation bloc are frozen. Mugabe, his immediate family members and cabinet officials are also banned from entering the United States and are not allowed to perform any business dealings. 

So just like the way Zimbabwe’s leaders turned to China when the Soviet Union rejected its partnership aims, the Mugabe family looks East to satisfy their luxury cravings. No wonder Hong Kong leads the world in the rich-poor gap standings because businesses bow down and serve the rich immediately as long as they show the money, no matter how that rich oligarch obtained his wealth. Back home in Zimbabwe, starvation among the people persists with the lack of social welfare, while inflation has reached record levels and the currency is near worthless. Can Hong Kong be a silent witness to this catastrophic situation and pretend not to know this has actually happened?