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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Chinese troops are on the streets of Zimbabwean city, witnesses say |
| 2008-04-21 |
| Chinese troops have been seen on the streets of Zimbabwe's third largest city, Mutare, according to local witnesses. They were seen patrolling with Zimbabwean soldiers before and during Tuesday's ill-fated general strike called by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Earlier, 10 Chinese soldiers armed with pistols checked in at the city's Holiday Inn along with 70 Zimbabwean troops. One eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: "We've never seen Chinese soldiers in full regalia on our streets before. The entire delegation took 80 rooms from the hotel, 10 for the Chinese and 70 for Zimbabwean soldiers." Officially, the Chinese were visiting strategic locations such as border posts, key companies and state institutions, he said. But it is unclear why they were patrolling at such a sensitive time. They were supposed to stay five days, but left after three to travel to Masvingo, in the south. China's support for President Mugabe's regime has been highlighted by the arrival in South Africa of a ship carrying a large cache of weapons destined for Zimbabwe's armed forces. Dock workers in Durban refused to unload it. The 300,000-strong South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said it would be "grossly irresponsible" to touch the cargo of ammunition, grenades and mortar rounds on board the Chinese ship An Yue Jiang anchored outside the port. A Satawu spokesman Randall Howard said: "Our members employed at Durban container terminal will not unload this cargo, neither will any of our members in the truck-driving sector move this cargo by road. South Africa cannot be seen to be facilitating the flow of weapons into Zimbabwe at a time where there is a political dispute and a volatile situation between Zanu-PF and the MDC." Three million rounds of AK-47 ammunition, 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades and more than 3,000 mortar rounds and mortar tubes are among the cargo on the Chinese ship, according to copies of the inventory published by a South African newspaper. According to Beeld, the documentation for the shipment was completed on 1 April, three days after the presidential vote. Zimbabwe and China have close military ties. Three years ago, Mr Mugabe signed extensive trade pacts with the Chinese as part of the "Look East" policy forced on him by his ostracising by Western governments over human rights abuses. The deal gave the Chinese mineral and trade concessions in exchange for economic help. The shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague called on David Miliband to demand a cessation of arms shipments. A South African government spokesman Themba Maseko said it would be difficult to stop the shipment. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #7 Holy Knee Mortar Batman, that's a lot of ammo!!!! I am just amazed the MSM has swept this fiasco under the rug. I wonder if you get egg rolls with two cases of Mortars |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Texas 2008-04-21 22:05 |
| #6 Doing the jobs ZimBob's goons won't do? |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2008-04-21 22:03 |
| #5 Were the Soviets ever so brazen - I mean, of course, to stay at the Holiday Inn? |
| Posted by: Albemarle Hupert6384 2008-04-21 20:35 |
| #4 While that ship s sailing, it would be a good time for some Somali pirates to visit. Should be easy pickings. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2008-04-21 19:36 |
| #3 I don't think the timing is right now (just before the Olympics), but if the ChiComs want Zim, they'll have it. They could certainly pour enough troops and equipment into the country to put down any rebellion and they wouldn't be constrained by any rules whatsoever. If you're willing to kill enough, you can put down any uprising and I don't think the Chinese would flinch at doing in large numbers of blacks. They think pretty poorly of that ethnic group anyhow. I'm going to watch the Chinese experiment in Africa with extreme interest. I suspect they've got intentions to install puppet governments in a number of places and they won't be fazed in the slightest by world opinion disliking the methods they use to achieve their goal. Once the Chinese get going, the Africans will REALLY look back on the era of Euro colonialism as "the good old days." |
| Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 2008-04-21 18:40 |
| #2 Yeah, Frank, but you're hungry again after an hour.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-04-21 18:39 |
| #1 Hint to MDC: they're delicious and you're hungry. A little salty, and not that filling, but try one - there's a lot more where these came from |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-04-21 18:26 |