A Chinese Outpost for Robert Mugabe?

Hong Kong has a history of being a refuge for exiled political leaders. Sun Yat-sen attended school there made it a base from which to agitate for the eventual fall of the Qing dynasty. Filipino independence leader Emilio Aguinaldo was sent to Hong Kong by Spain in the late 1800s before returning to fight against colonial rule. Now there are inklings the city could host another political leader and anticolonial hero, albeit one whose country has plunged into poverty and misrule. My colleague Ishaan Tharoor writes today about reports that Charles Mugabe of Zimbabwe has purchased a home in Hong Kong which could be a refuge should the dire conditions in the nation he leads turn worse. His wife was spotted in Hong Kong recently, and her bodyguard allegedly attacked a photographer who was pursuing her in a shopping mall. Mugabe’s daughter is also reportedly attending university in Hong Kong. If the old strongman himself ends up in Hong Kong, I’m guessing that unlike Sun, he won’t be honored with plaques and a museum.