China Dismisses Euphoria Over Zimbabwe Arms Ship

China has dismissed as unwarranted the international euphoria caused by a Chinese-registered ship carrying weapons for Zimbabwe and said it was not in Beijing’s interest to worsen Harare’s political crisis.

In the first reaction from the Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe after the vessel was denied permission to offload its cargo in South Africa and other neighboring countries, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe, Yuan Nansheng on Friday said the arms shipment was a purely commercial transaction and had nothing to do with Zimbabwe’s post-election tensions.

“The shipment of arms from China to Zimbabwe had nothing to do with Zimbabwe’s elections and should be viewed as a purely commercial transaction,” Yuan told journalists in Harare on Friday.

The vessel laden with arms destined for Zimbabwe made international headlines in April after port workers in Durban, South Africa, refused to offload its cargo and won a court order barring South African workers from touching the weapons.

It subsequently received the same treatment in Mozambique and Namibia.

It reportedly only offloaded cement when it finally docked in Angola last week.

The arrival of the ship in southern African waters also heightened tensions among member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) after SADC chairman, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, ordered Zimbabwe’s neighbors not to allow the vessel to dock.

SADC countries feared the weapons could be used to fight President Robert Mugabe’s opponents.

Source African Press Agency

Net News Publisher