Thread: China recalls Zimbabwe arms ship

China recalls Zimbabwe arms ship
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008
12:07 MECCA TIME, 9:07 GMT


Zimbabwe's neighbours have barred the vessel
An Yue Jiang from entering their waters
[EPA]


A Chinese ship carrying 77 tonnes of weapons bound for Zimbabwe has been recalled, China's foreign ministry has said.

The decision comes after South African port workers refused to unload the vessel, the An Yue Jiang, reported to be carrying thousands of rounds of ammunition rockets and mortar bombs among its cargo.

Zambia, which chairs the Southern African Development Community grouping, had urged other regional states to also bar the ship from entering their waters, saying the arms could deepen Zimbabwe's election crisis and be used in a crackdown on the opposition.

Earlier this week the US state department expressed concerns that the arms "could be used against individuals who are merely trying to freely express their political will".

Commenting on the shipment at a regular foreign ministry press briefing in Beijing, spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the decision had been taken by the Chinese company involved to recall the vessel.

She said the shipment was completely legal and fell within the established norms of international trade.

"In the field of conventional weapons, we have trade relations with some countries. These are consistent with our laws and with Security Council resolutions and China's international obligations," Jiang said.

"We have been very responsible and cautious with regards to weapons exports."

Mediation

China has been under pressure to use its close relations with Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, to help mediate in the election crisis.

However William Hess, country manager for China with the consultancy company, Global Insight, said such pressure runs against a key pillar of Chinese foreign policy - not to interfere in domestic political issues of other countries.

"The Chinese side would be very reluctant to take on this role where they take a very and very direct in determining the outcome of a domestic political question," he told Al Jazeera.

"They want to make clear to all sides that they are playing a non-interfering role."

Officials from Mugabe's Zanu-PF have said Zimbabwe has a sovereign right to defend itself and buy weapons from "any legitimate source worldwide".

"I don't understand all this hullabaloo about a lone ship," Patrick Chinamasa, the country's justice minister, said in Harare this week.

"We don't need clearance from anyone."

english.aljazeera.net

Angola allows arms ship to dock
Friday, 25 April 2008


Reports say the ship is carrying millions of rounds of ammunition

Angola's government has authorised a Chinese ship carrying arms destined for Zimbabwe to dock, although it says it will not be allowed to unload weapons.

In a statement, the government said the vessel would only be allowed to deliver goods intended for Angola.

On Thursday, the Chinese authorities said they would recall the ship to China after port workers in South Africa refused to unload the weapons.
Other southern African countries had also refused to allow the ship to dock.

Leaders in the region had expressed concern that the weapons could heighten tensions in Zimbabwe.

The results of presidential elections held there nearly a month ago have still not been released.

Grenades

The state news agency, Angop, said the ship, the An Yue Jiang, had been authorised to dock in the capital Luanda.


Zimbabwe needs to arm itself more than any other country in Africa today for the simple reason that it has been targeted for destabilisation
Herald newspaper
Zimbabwe


But it can only unload "merchandise destined for Angola", a government statement said.

Angola is a close ally of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

On Thursday, a Chinese foreign ministry official said the ship, which reportedly contains three million rounds of ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and 2,500 mortar rounds, might return to China.

The US had urged China to recall the An Yue Jiang, while the UK called for an international arms embargo on Zimbabwe.

Zambia's president urged African countries not to let the arms in. But Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper condemned the country's neighbours as "myopic stooges" for refusing to let the cargo dock.

"Zimbabwe is... under attack from the former coloniser and its allies. As such, Zimbabwe probably needs to arm itself more than any other country in Africa today," the paper said.

news.bbc.co.uk

Arms ship exposes Robert Mugabe’s link to Chinese firm
April 27, 2008
Michael Sheridan, Far East Correspondent

The boycott of a Chinese ship laden with weapons for Zimbabwe has cast new light on the connections between the African country’s president, Robert Mugabe, and a secretive Chinese arms-trading firm with a controversial track record from the Congo to Darfur.

The ship steamed towards China last week after dock workers in Durban refused to unload it and a South African court blocked the transit of its cargo of mortar and small arms ammunition.

The 15,000-tonne An Yue Jiang is registered in the southern city of Guangzhou and has been operated for about 20 years by Cosco, a state-owned cargo line.

When Levy Mwanawasa, the president of Zambia, called on every country in the region to reject it, the ship became an embarrassment to Beijing, which has made a huge political and financial investment in Africa.

Company documents show that Poly Technologies, the manufacturer of the weapons on board the ship, is ultimately controlled by a clique from China’s preeminent military clans with close ties to the Communist party leadership and army.

Major General He Ping, the company’s chairman, is the son-in-law of Deng Xiaoping, the former Chinese leader; its president, Wang Jun, is the son of a vice-president and a Deng ally. Its upper ranks are stuffed with military veterans and their offspring, who have greatly enriched themselves with arms sales to some of Africa’s bloodiest trouble spots.

Diplomatic sources say Mugabe forged links with the Poly Technologies management on state visits to China. Since Zimbabwe is all but bankrupt, the arms are paid for by barters of agricultural products and raw materials.

On paper, Poly Technologies is a subsidiary of the China International Trust and Investment Corporation. Analysts of Chinese financial affairs say, however, that Poly is actually a front for an elite within the country’s military-industrial complex and that it reports to the general staff department of the People’s Liberation Army.

“People call it the supreme headquarters of the China princeling party,” commented one analyst. “It’s a power centre beyond civilian control.”

Although Poly discloses almost no financial details, its customers for small arms and ammunition include Sudan and Burma. Chinese AK-47 assault rifles made by Poly have turned up in the war-torn eastern Congo, among other African battlefields. Its other sales include short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles to Iran and Pakistan.

In 1996 Poly was named by prosecutors in connection with an attempt to smuggle 2,000 AK47s into the United States.

“China has done nothing wrong with regard to weapons exports to Zimbabwe,” said Guo Xiaobing, a researcher quoted by the Guangzhou Daily, in the ship’s home port.

“This is only a topic for the western media to use to put pressure on China. There is no United Nations embargo on arms to Zimbabwe, so China’s business is legal.”

timesonline.co.uk

Damn, now that is the shits, I guess they will have to revert to the old ways and chop em up with Bush Knives or beat them to death with rocks.
Damn the only time that there was any peace in that country was when the Belgium's were feeding half the world from the land that the darkies can not even starve to death peacefully on.