China recalls arms ship after pressure from African countries?

By Lance Guma
22 April 2008

A controversial arms shipment from China, meant for crisis torn Zimbabwe, might have been recalled back to China following pressure from African countries that refused to allow it to dock at their ports. On Tuesday the China Ocean Shipping Company, owners of the An Yue Jiang ship, announced their vessel was coming back home. Despite Chinese claims that the delivery was ‘normal military product trade,’ Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa led the chorus of disapproval that urged African countries not to allow the ship to unload its deadly wares. A South African court last week issued an order barring the transit of the weapons through it’s territory.

The An Yue Jiang is carrying 77 tonnes of weaponry consisting of AK47 ammunition, rocket propelled grenades and mortars, all supplied by Chinese arms manufacturer Poly Technologies. The ship left Durban on Friday to escape a High Court order blocking it’s contents from being offloaded and driven to Zimbabwe overland. The Southern African Litigation Centre had called on the South African navy to stop the passage of the ship via its territorial waters, arguing this violated the court order. But on Tuesday the groups executive director, Nicole Fritz, told Newsreel the ship has since left South African waters and was positioned off Cape Point, where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. It was said to be travelling slowly in order to conserve fuel.

Fritz said the issue has galvanised the entire Southern African region into standing up for what is right. She said all this stemmed from the one whistleblower who alerted the media to the contents of the ship. The support for the people in Zimbabwe has been overwhelming - last week the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union said it’s members would not offload the ship. A similar call was made by the International Transport Workers Federation, who urged their affiliates in Mozambique not to touch the ship or it’s cargo. On Tuesday a Namibian human rights group was also preparing a court application to block the ship from attempting to offload it’s wares, should it think of heading that way. Trade Unions in Namibia have already said their workers will not offload the ship. There was speculation the ship might want to refuel in Namibia and exploit Namibia’s close relationship with Mugabe and China to complete the transaction.

Despite information from the SA Litigation centre that the ship was off Cape Point, Joseph Dube a campaigner with the International Action Network on Small Arms, said their information suggested the ship was in Namibian waters and could be heading toward Angola. Dube argued that in the absence of a legitimate government in Zimbabwe, China should not be selling arms to the country. Only after the announcement of election results could the trade be considered legitimate he said. Dube said it was morally wrong to import containers full of guns, when people in the country were starving.

Worries still remain that with over 32 ports available in Africa any one could be used to offload the arms. Maritime experts also say there are over 300 vessels in the area that can take the cargo directly off the Chinese ship and make the delivery on it’s behalf.

The arms deal has been a public relations disaster for the Chinese. The country is hosting the Olympic games this year and the negative coverage may have convinced government officials the transaction is not worth the hassle.