CHINESE MAKE SECOND APPROACH ON ARMS SHIPMENT FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L MAPUTO 000339 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/21/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL EWWT MASS ZI MZ SUBJECT: CHINESE MAKE SECOND APPROACH ON ARMS SHIPMENT FOR ZIMBABWE REF: MAPUTO 324 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Todd C. Chapman. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Last Monday evening, April 21, Minister of the Presidency Antonio Sumbana called the Charge to inform him that the Chinese Government had again requested permission for the Chinese ship with arms for Zimbabwe to be given access to a Mozambican port. The Minister was under the mistaken impression that the ship was in Mozambican waters noting that, "the Chinese tricked us and turned the boat around (from its declared destination of Angola)." On Tuesday morning, April 22, the Charge informed Sumbana that the Chinese vessel was identified off the western coast of Africa. ¶2. (C) The Minister explained that the Chinese Government noted the Mozambican Transport Minister's public statement (reftel) that the reason for the GRM's refusal was the lack of an official request, and that the proper procedures had not been followed. The Chinese Government instructed its Ambassador in Mozambique to make an official request which the GRM again turned down today. Sumbana appeared quite annoyed with the repeated request and relieved to learn that the ship was far from Mozambican waters. Chapman