Reports of beatings by Chinese managers are so common that even a cook at Harare's popular China Garden restaurant complained of them, telling the Zimbabwe Mail & Guardian, "Working for these men from the East is hell on earth."

"Workers continue to endure various forms of physical torture at the hands of these Chinese employers right under the noses of the authorities," a spokesperson for the the Zimbabwe Construction and Allied Trade Workers' Union told the same newspaper. "One of the most disturbing developments is that most of the Chinese employers openly boast that they have government protection and so nothing can be done to them. This clearly indicates that the issue has more serious political connotations than we can imagine."

The labor spokesperson's fears of political capture are probably not misplaced. China has adeptly co-opted much of the country's political leadership, buying impunity for Chinese managers as well as control over much of Zimbabwe's economy. China recently paid $3 billion for exclusive access to Zimbabwe's extensive platinum rights, a contract estimated to be worth $40 billion. It might seem surprising that Mugabe would take such a lopsided deal, but platinum is both expensive and time-consuming to extract. His country has a national debt of $7.1 billion, which is larger than the national GDP, and with his regime so isolated from the international community, few other sources of investment.

But don't feel too sorry for Mugabe -- Zimbabwe-watchers suspect that the autocratic president benefits personally from these kinds of deals from China. It's not hard to find the payoff -- he keeps a large (and heavily guarded) mansion in Hong Kong, where he is often seen on shopping sprees under the guard of Chinese special police. Mugabe also depends on his Hong Kong home for another reason: because the sanctioned leader cannot legally travel to Europe, he will need a place of safe refuge if he is ever ousted from power. The 87-year-old ruler even relies on Chinese medical treatment. Like the French-imposed monarchs of 19th century North Africa, or the Soviet-sponsored premiers of Cold War-era Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Mugabe is coming to depend on his Chinese sponsor for his personal economic and physical well-being.

China's grasp on Zimbabwe extends beyond even the African country's economy and political system. A massive military compound is under construction in Harare, built by Chinese firms and with a Chinese loan of $98 million. The open-ended loan, which the already indebted Zimbabwean government has no obvious way of paying back, means that this component of the country's military will be effectively Chinese-owned. Because Mugabe relies on the military not just for defending the borders but for maintaining the oppression that keeps him in power, the expensive facility will hand a small but important part of Zimbabwean sovereignty over to Chinese lenders.