US asks China to pull back arms shipment to Zimbabwe
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States has asked China to withdraw a cache of its weapons destined for Zimbabwe and halt further arms shipments to the increasingly isolated African regime, the State Department said Tuesday.
Beijing was told "to refrain from making additional shipments and, if possible, to bring this one back," department spokesman Tom Casey said, referring to a Chinese ship loaded with arms intended for Zimbabwe and now reportedly headed to Angola.
Washington has also asked Angola and Zimbabwe's other neighbors, including South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia, not to allow the ship, identified as the An Yue Jiang, to dock or offload the weapons.
"We don't think that under the present circumstances given the current political crisis in Zimbabwe that now is the time for anyone to be increasing the number of weapons and armaments available in that country," Casey said.
China defended the shipment, saying it was part of normal bilateral trade, but suggested the arms might not be delivered due to problems offloading the cargo.
"This is normal trade in military products between the two countries. The relevant contract was signed last year and has nothing to do with the situation in Zimbabwe," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters in Beijing.
"As Zimbabwe could not receive the cargo as scheduled, China Ocean Shipping Corp had to give up the Durban port and is now considering carrying back this cargo," she said, referring to the state-owned COSCO shipping firm.
Human Rights Watch also urged China to cease arms deliveries to Zimbabwe because "the very high risk exists of such weapons being used against the civilian population," it said in a statement.
"China prides itself on being a 'responsible power'," said Sophie Richardson, HRW's Asia advocacy director. "This means it has no business shipping arms to an abusive government in the middle of a brutal and violent crackdown."
There is no UN imposed arms embargo on Zimbabwe.
But Casey said that the United States "would hope that it would be clear to the Chinese" that given the instability in Zimbabwe and "real and visible" abuses committed by its security forces, providing additional weapons "is something which is not necessary right now."
The An Yue Jiang was carrying three million rounds of assault rifle ammunition, 3,000 mortar rounds and 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, according to its inventory, published by a South African newspaper.
The ship was forced to abandon plans to off-load the arms in the South African port of Durban last week after activists won a court case which prevented it from transporting the load overland to the Zimbabwe border.
There were fears that the arms could be used to crack down on protests following parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe last month, both of which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says it won.
The shipment was also likely to inflame a debate about China's growing diplomatic and economic role in Africa, which has focused on the country's links with the Sudanese government, accused of human rights abuses in Darfur.
The State Department's top Africa hand, Jendayi Frazer, meanwhile flies to the region this week to highlight the deepening post-election turmoil in Zimbabwe.
The results of a March 29 presidential election have still to be announced.
The situation in Zimbabwe would be a "major element of discussions" between Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Frazer and leaders of the countries she would visit -- South Africa, Zambia and Angola, Casey said.
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has proclaimed himself victor over incumbent Robert Mugabe in presidential elections and called for UN intervention in the dispute.
Tsvangirai, who is in Ghana, risks arrest for treason if he returns home.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denounced the failure of the Zimbabwean authorities to release election results as unacceptable.
