China Seyz Shipping Arms to Dictators and Tryants Normal

Cheap products, stealing US technology and supplying African dictatorships with arms is what China should be known for. Voice of America

China says a shipment of weapons headed for Zimbabwe is a product of normal trade. The Chinese Foreign Ministry says the ship was unable to unload and now may be heading back for China. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.

For days, the An Yue Jiang, a Chinese ship carrying weapons and ammunition to Zimbabwe, has been in the waters off southern Africa, looking for a place to offload.

The ship last week was docked in the South African port of Durban, but workers there refused to unload the weapons for overland shipment to Zimbabwe, because of concerns that the government of President Robert Mugabe might use them against his political opponents.

....

At a regular briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said there was nothing wrong with the deal.

She says the contract for what she described as "normal military trade" was signed last year, and has nothing to do with the current situation in Zimbabwe.

She says that since Zimbabwe failed to receive the cargo as scheduled, the ship is considering taking the cargo back to China.

She says the shipping company will determine the specific date and route.

The An Yue Jiang is reported to be carrying 1500 rocket-propelled grenades, 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes, and three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition.

The Chinese spokeswoman urged countries, including the United States, not to politicize a normal commercial activity.