Chinese troops in Zimbabwe

[70983]

Chinese troops are on the streets of Zimbabwean city, witnesses say

 

JEROME DELAY/AP

Zimbabweans demonstrate in Pretoria, South Africa, over the arms shipment from China

Saturday, 19 April 2008


Chinese troops have been seen on the streets of Zimbabwe's third largest city, Mutare, according to local witnesses. They were seen patrolling with Zimbabwean soldiers before and during Tuesday's ill-fated general strike called by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).


Earlier, 10 Chinese soldiers armed with pistols checked in at the city's Holiday Inn along with 70 Zimbabwean troops.

One eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: "We've never seen Chinese soldiers in full regalia on our streets before. The entire delegation took 80 rooms from the hotel, 10 for the Chinese and 70 for Zimbabwean soldiers."

Officially, the Chinese were visiting strategic locations such as border posts, key companies and state institutions, he said. But it is unclear why they were patrolling at such a sensitive time. They were supposed to stay five days, but left after three to travel to Masvingo, in the south.

China's support for President Mugabe's regime has been highlighted by the arrival in South Africa of a ship carrying a large cache of weapons destined for Zimbabwe's armed forces. Dock workers in Durban refused to unload it.

The 300,000-strong South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said it would be "grossly irresponsible" to touch the cargo of ammunition, grenades and mortar rounds on board the Chinese ship An Yue Jiang anchored outside the port.

A Satawu spokesman Randall Howard said: "Our members employed at Durban container terminal will not unload this cargo, neither will any of our members in the truck-driving sector move this cargo by road. South Africa cannot be seen to be facilitating the flow of weapons into Zimbabwe at a time where there is a political dispute and a volatile situation between Zanu-PF and the MDC."

Three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and more than 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes are among the cargo on the Chinese ship, according to copies of the inventory published by a South African newspaper.

According to Beeld, the documentation for the shipment was completed on 1 April, three days after the presidential vote.

Zimbabwe and China have close military ties. Three years ago, Mr Mugabe signed extensive trade pacts with the Chinese as part of the "Look East" policy forced on him by his ostracising by Western governments over human rights abuses. The deal gave the Chinese mineral and trade concessions in exchange for economic help.

The shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague called on David Miliband to demand a cessation of arms shipments.

A South African government spokesman Themba Maseko said it would be difficult to stop the shipment.

[70983]

Ship with arms for Zimbabwe flees Durban port


Apr 18, 2008, 21:48 GMT


Johannesburg - A Chinese ship that was carrying arms for Zimbabwe hurriedly left Durban harbour in South Africa Friday evening after a local court ordered that its cargo could not be transported overland across South Africa, reports said.

The An Yue Jiang lifted anchor after the Durban High Court ruled that its shipment of weapons and ammunition could be offloaded but could not be transported across South Africa to Zimbabwe, SAPA news agency reported.

It was not clear where the ship, which was carrying 70 tonnes of arms for the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, was headed. Zimbabwe has previously imported weapons through Beira port in Mozambique.

The court order was granted on an application brought by an Anglican bishop and a activist under the National Conventional Arms Control Act (NCACC).

Dock workers had been refusing to offload the cargo, which included millions of bullets for AK-47 rifles, mortar bombs and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, on the grounds that to do so would be 'grossly irresponsible.'

The ship had been anchored just outside the port since at least Monday, according to SAPA, which said the vessel was owned by state Chinese company Cosco Group.

An investigative magazine in South Africa, Noseweek, sounded the alarm over its cargo and its destination on Wednesday.

Opposition parties had pleaded with the government not to issue a conveyance permit for the shipment given the tensions in Zimbabwe caused by three-week wait for presidential election results. The government said the permit had been issued as far back as Monday.

Since the European Union placed Zimbabwe under an arms embargo in 2002, autocratic President Robert Mugabe has sourced much of his weapons in China, which he calls Zimbabwe's 'all-weather friend.