Something to cheer about for a change. The Chinese cargo ship An Yue Jiang is reported to be heading back to China after workers in coastal countries neighbouring Zimbabwe refused to handle its cargo of weapons.

A petulant sounding Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Jiang Yu, said:

“Some people in the US are always critical, positioning themselves as the world’s policeman, but they are not popular in the world.”

I dare say that’s true, but it’s a shitty job and someone’s got to do it. It would just be nice if the responsibility were shared out a bit more.

In this instance the US government has done absolutely the right thing in following up an international workers’ initiative with a diplomatic call to China to recall the weapons shipment. Zambia’s president Levy Mwanawasa urged African countries not to allow the arms to pass through their territories in case this should increase tension in in crisis-riven Zimbabwe.

So here’s to the dockworkers of southern Africa, and here’s to the president of Zambia and the US State Department. Oh, and a nod also to Gordon Brown, who recently mumbled something or other about an international arms embargo on Zimbabwe.