BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday a shipment of weapons bound for Zimbabwe would be recalled after South African port workers refused to unload it and amid a call from Britain to prevent arms flowing into the troubled country.
Zambia, which chairs the Southern African DevelopmentCommunity grouping, had urged regional states to bar the An YueJiang from entering their waters, saying the weapons coulddeepen Zimbabwe's election crisis.
"To my knowledge, the Chinese company has decided to recallthe ship and the relevant goods bound for Zimbabwe," ChineseForeign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.
She said the reason was the same she gave on Tuesday --that the ship had been unable to unload its goods.
But she defended the shipment in the face of criticism fromNew York-based Human Rights Watch, which said that any statethat sent arms and ammunition to Zimbabwe could be complicit inthe country's rights abuses.
"In the field of conventional weapons, we have traderelations with some countries. These are consistent with ourlaws and with Security Council resolutions and China'sinternational obligations," Jiang said.
"We have been very responsible and cautious with regards toweapons exports and we have a very strict management system forweapons exports."
No results have been announced from Zimbabwe's March 29presidential vote, while the outcome of a parliamentary poll isalso in doubt because of partial recounts.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says itwon the elections and the delay in releasing the resultsextends a deadlock in which the MDC says 10 members have beenkilled.
Jiang also gave a spirited defence of China's trade withAfrica, following a European Parliament resolution thatcriticised its shipping weapons to states including Sudan andChad, and also said investments without conditions in poorlygoverned countries could perpetuate human rights abuses.
"They ignored the facts and made groundless statements,which is totally irresponsible," Jiang said of the resolution.
The European Union already has an arms embargo againstZimbabwe, part of sanctions in place since 2002. The embargobars the 27 EU states from supplying arms or equipment intendedfor military operations.
China's booming trade and investment with Africa, whosenatural resources it covets to feed its expanding economy, hascome under fire from critics who say it lends without regard tostandards on governance or corruption.
Others, however, have praised it as a new and much-neededsource of funds on the continent.
Jiang said China's role in Africa would be judged by theAfrican people, not by third parties.
"We respect the right of African countries to chose theirown political system and path of social development," she said.
(Reporting by Lindsay Beck; Editing by Valerie Lee)