Precisely! China is now paraded all over the place as Africa's
Abdou,
Precisely! China is now paraded all over the place as Africa's new 'friend'. Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade himself came to their defense a couple of months ago. Yet, it is the same China that is in cahoots with the government of Sudan. This same 'friend' that reportedly sold thousands of machetes to the Hutu murderers in Rwanda.
Well, just as the Bible says "wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather."
I hope Africa will come to learn that in international relations there are no friends, just interests!
Momodou Baldeh.
----- Original Message ----
From: ABDOUKARIM SANNEH <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 11:16:38 AM
Subject: Re: A new way of dealing with Pa Mugabe?
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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