Learn Mandarin

Only half of Chinese actually speak Mandarin, but Mugabe will kowtow to his Chinese friends by forcing college students to learn Mandarin...
LINK

Johannesburg, 26 Jan. (AKI) - Students at all Zimbabwean universities will later this year be required to learn to speak and write Chinese, Zimbabwe's education minister has announced. The decision is part of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's offensive to promote his "Look East" policy, minister Stan Mudenge said. There was a "compelling need" to bring the peoples of the two countries together, Mudenge was quoted as saying by the Johannesburg daily, The Star.Zimbabwe is seeking to strengthen its ties with China to offset Western sanctions imposed on Mugabe who has been accused of persecuting political opponents.But Zimbabwean students who have been told to become fluent in tongue-twisting Mandarin, are outraged by the veteran leader's decision."It seems they are trying every political gimmick to lure the Chinese into this country to bankroll their bankrupt regime. But they should not do that at the expense of students," Washington Katema, president of the Zimbabwe National Association of Student Unions, was quoted as saying by The Star.