China and Africa

Guns for Mugabe

Posted by Jeremy Goldkorn, April 18, 2008 10:53 AM

Anchored in Durban

From The Guardian:

A Chinese cargo ship believed to be carrying 77 tonnes of small arms, including more than 3m rounds of ammunition, AK47 assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, has docked in the South African port of Durban for transportation of the weapons to Zimbabwe, the South African government confirmed yesterday. It claimed it was powerless to intervene as long as the ship's papers were in order.

Copies of the documentation for the Chinese ship, the An Yue Jiang, show that the weapons were sent from Beijing to the ministry of defence in Harare. Headed "Dangerous goods description and container packing certificate", the document was issued on April 1, three days after Zimbabwe's election. It lists the consignment as including 3.5m rounds of ammunition for AK47 assault rifles and for small arms, 1,500 40mm rockets, 2,500 mortar shells of 60mm and 81mm calibre, as well as 93 cases of mortar tubes.

The whole article is here: Chinese ship carries arms cargo to Mugabe regime. South Africa's Independent Online has more about South African responses to this news.

Tags for this entry:

There are currently 4 Comments for Guns for Mugabe.

<< Grace Wang | Everyone needs a new home >>

Comments on Guns for Mugabe

[T]he document was issued on April 1, three days after Zimbabwe's election.

i reiterate: democratic elections are dangerous. they can lead to political instability, civil unrest, and even violence.

Posted by: b. | April 18, 2008 5:54 PM

So can attempts by dictators to cling to power... no wait, those are more likely to.

Posted by: Edward | April 19, 2008 4:22 AM

Finnaly it arrives in Africa. Now it is time for our African bros to defend the western Demons(does this word has the same origin as Democracy ).

Posted by: redarmy | April 19, 2008 4:54 AM

the situation in zimbabwe is devolving quickly -- south african prez mbeki has not done enough to pressure mugabe to stand down peacefully.

china is sticking to their story on the right to sell guns and to not interfere with the other countries' domestic affairs. they also have cozy ties to zimbabwe, which are not all bad to be sure, but in this case, are not good if they help to overturn elections and provide materiel for the bloodshed...

i hope for everybody's sake the an yue jiang refuels and turns home. the chinese do not need mugabe's money for arms, and they (hopefully) don't want to be a part of playing enforcer on the wrong side of this thing.

but make no mistake -- the arrival of the cargo from this ship to zimbabwe will result in even greater, more efficient bloodshed than what is happening now.

Posted by: ada | April 21, 2008 11:57 PM