Abdoukarim,
To all fairness why do Chinese have to care for Africa more than the
continent's sons and daughters? Why should China all of a sudden be
angels just because they can flex a few muscles. I believe the take home
lesson here is that ordinary Africans must believe that they can make a
difference where their leaders have conveniently decided to fail. That
is when leaders like President Mbeki abdicate their role to lead the
fight for progress in Africa, ordinary dock workers can stand up to show
that they can.
Malanding
ABDOUKARIM SANNEH wrote:
> Malanding
> China's irresponsible diplomacy in our continent is beyond comprehension. China is a classical example of modern neo-colonial power in the 21st century Africa. It's strategic foreign policy does not care who is in power just as long as supply the need of China's growing economy they will do business.
>
> Malanding Jaiteh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Citizens-enforced arms embargo? Perhaps the new way to deal with the
> likes of Pa Mugabe
>
> Malanding
>
>
> Arms for Zimbabwe May Turn Back
>
>
> Jon Hrusa/European Pressphoto Agency
>
> By CELIA W. DUGGER
>
> and DAVID BARBOZA
>
> Published: April 23, 2008
>
> JOHANNESBURG — As protests intensified across southern Africa against
> the delivery of a shipment of Chinese-made arms to Zimbabwe
> ,
> the Chinese government said Tuesday that the ship carrying the arms —
> owned by a large state-owned company, COSCO — may return to China
> because of problems delivering the goods.
>
> South Africa
> ’s
> High Court Friday barred transport of the ammunition, rockets and mortar
> bombs across South Africa from the port of Durban to landlocked Zimbabwe
> after an Anglican archbishop argued they were likely to be used to crush
> the Zimbabwean opposition following a disputed Mar. 29 election.
>
> South Africa’s dock workers also said through their union they would
> refuse to unload the shipment, a call backed up by the country’s
> powerful coalition of trade unions. On Friday, the ship, An Yue Jiang,
> left Durban for the open seas and on Tuesday South Africa’s Ministry of
> Defense said it lay somewhere off Africa’s west coast.
>
> Jiang Yu, a spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said at a press
> briefing in Beijing that the shipment was part of “normal military
> trade” between Zimbabwe and China and called on other nations not to
> politicize the issue. But acknowledging the resistance to the shipment,
> she said China was considering shipping the arms back to China
>
> According to documents provided to South African authorities and leaked
> to journalists here, Poly Technologies, Inc., a Chinese state-owned arms
> company, was the maker of the arms, weighing 77 tons and worth $1.245
> million.
>
> An impromptu coalition of trade unions, church leaders and
> nongovernmental organizations trying to stop delivery of the weaponry
> gained an important ally Monday when Levy Mwanawasa
> ,
> who is president of Zambia and heads a bloc of 14 southern African
> nations, called on other countries in the region not to let the ship
> dock in their ports.
>
> “He actually said that it would be good for China to play a more useful
> role in the Zimbabwe crisis than supplying arms,” a spokesman for the
> Zambian government, who asked not to be named, said Tuesday. “We don’t
> want a situation which will escalate the situation in Zimbabwe more than
> what it is.”
>
> Mr. Mwanawasa’s statements, made to reporters as he returned from a
> regional conference in Mauritius, were remarkable because so few African
> heads of state have been openly critical of Zimbabwe. The bloc he heads,
> the Southern African Development Community, has come in for especially
> sharp criticism for failing to censure the Zimbabwean government for
> refusing to publish the results of the presidential election.
>
> More than three weeks after an election in which the opposition is said
> by independent election monitors to have bested the governing party of
> 84 year-old President Robert Mugabe
> ,
> the autocrat who has led the country for 28 years, election officials
> have yet to release the results.
>
> Human rights groups and the opposition have reported that the government
> is coordinating a violent crackdown on supporters of the opposition
> Movement for Democratic Change.
>
> The criticism of China from an African leader comes at a sensitive time.
> China is simultaneously trying to win allies in Africa, a source of oil
> and other natural resources it needs to fuel its economic boom, and host
> the Olympic Games this summer without spawning international protests
> linked to its human rights record and policies in Tibet.
>
> Shipping arms to Zimbabwe could further complicate China’s efforts to
> avoid harsh international criticism before the games.
>
> The South African government, which was helping the ship clear customs
> in Durban last week before the ship left the port, has itself been
> harshly criticized by trade unions and nongovernmental organizations
> here for being complicit in getting weapons to Zimbabwe’s military when
> senior army officers are being accused of helping lead and coordinate
> suppression of the opposition.
>
> The departure of the ship Friday from Durban for the open seas as
> authorities approached it to serve the court order spared the South
> African government the politically charged task of pushing for delivery
> of the weapons.
>
> South African officials said last week that they could not interfere
> with the shipment because there was no trade embargo against Zimbabwe.
>
> Themba Gadebe, a spokesman for South Africa’s Ministry of Defense, said
> Tuesday that the ship lay somewhere off the west coast of Africa, though
> he did not know exactly where.
>
> “It’s not in our South African waters," he said. “We are not policing
> that particular ship.”
>
> Namibia and Angola lie north of South Africa along the west coast. Both
> are allies of Mr. Mugabe’s and neither has transport trade unions
> affiliated with the International Transport Workers Federation, which is
> coordinating efforts to block the unloading of the arms.
>
> Sprite Zungu, an official with the federation, said Tuesday that he had
> had trouble establishing contact with Angolan union officials because
> they speak Portuguese, a language he does not know, he said.
>
> But he sent an e-mail in English to union officials, care of Angolan
> port officials, asking workers there to show solidarity with workers in
> South Africa and Zimbabwe.
>
> “It’s clear those weapons will be used against the people who won the
> elections,” Mr. Zungu said he wrote in the e-mail.
>
> Celia W. Dugger reported from Johannesburg and David Barboza from Shanghai.
>
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