A Chinese ship that was carrying arms for Zimbabwe hurriedly left Durban harbor in South Africa on Friday evening after a local court ordered that its cargo could not be transported overland across South Africa, reports said.
The An Yue Jiang lifted anchor after the Durban High Court ruled that its shipment of weapons and ammunition could be offloaded but could not be transported across South Africa to Zimbabwe, SAPA news agency reported.
It was not clear where the ship, which was carrying 70 tonnes of arms for the Zimbabwe Defense Forces, was headed. Zimbabwe has previously imported weapons through Beira port in Mozambique.
The court order was granted on an application brought by an Anglican bishop and an activist under the National Conventional Arms Control Act.
Dock workers had refused to offload the cargo, which included millions of bullets for AK-47 rifles, mortar bombs and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, on the grounds that to do so would be “grossly irresponsible.”
The ship had been anchored just outside the port since at least Monday, according to SAPA, which said it was owned by Cosco, a Chinese state firm.
An investigative magazine in South Africa, Noseweek, sounded the alarm over its cargo and its destination on Wednesday.
Opposition parties had pleaded with the government not to issue a conveyance permit for the shipment given the tensions in Zimbabwe caused by the three-week wait for presidential election results. The government said the permit had been issued as far back as Monday.
Since the EU placed Zimbabwe under an arms embargo in 2002, President Robert Mugabe has sourced much of his weapons in China, which he calls Zimbabwe’s “all-weather friend.”
Meanwhile, German Human Rights Commissioner Guenter Nooke said yesterday that China’s arms deliveries to Zimbabwe were “alarming in the extreme.”
Beijing was delivering arms to a regime that had effectively been voted out of office, Nooke said.
Also See: Mugabe blames whites in public speech
Taiwan last night blanked world No. 1 Japan 4-0 to win the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 for the first time. Taiwanese ace Lin Yu-min (林昱珉) held defending champions Japan to just one hit and no runs in the first four innings, before catcher Lin Chia-cheng (林家正) opened the fifth inning with a solo home run. That was soon followed by a three-run homer from Taiwanese captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) to put Taiwan ahead in the prestigious tournament of the world’s top 12 baseball teams. In addition to a superb performance from 21-year-old Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Lin, three more Taiwanese pitchers
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday held an equipment installation ceremony for its first 2-nanometer fab in Kaohsiung, six months ahead of schedule, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said. “To cope with the strong global demand for advanced chips, TSMC is to start moving in equipment for its first-ever 2-nanometer fab half a year earlier than scheduled,” Chen said at an question-and-answer session at the Kaohsiung City Council. TSMC’s 2-nanometer process technology would help accelerate the development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications as well as the transformation of local industries in Kaohsiung, Chen said in a
TEAM TAIWAN: While lawmakers proposed declaring Nov. 24 a national day, the CPBL commissioner urged the legislature to pass the budget for sports development Lawmakers yesterday proposed designating Nov. 24 as National Baseball Day and updating the design of the NT$500 bill to honor the national team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 championship on Sunday, as thousands of fans came out to see the players parade down the streets of Taipei. Players, coaches and staff from the national team returned home on Monday night after achieving their best-ever performance in an international baseball tournament. After receiving a rapturous welcome at the airport, the players turned out yesterday for a street parade in front of thousands of adoring fans waving Taiwanese flags and
Taiwan moved clear of Mexico to be the only country at No. 2 in the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Men’s Baseball World Rankings. Meanwhile, draft bills to set up a ministry of sports were approved at a joint session at the legislature in Taipei yesterday. After previously being tied with Mexico for second on 4,118 points, Taiwan moved clear on 5,498 points after they defeated Japan in the final of the WBSC Premier12 tournament on Sunday. Mexico (4,729) dropped to fourth, behind Venezuela (4,846), who finished fourth at the tournament. Taiwan narrowed the gap to first-placed Japan to 1,368 points from 1,638, WBSC
RSS