George - nobody is saying a Vernier CAN'T gimbal - just that the ones on Soyuz and Long March do not, they are hinged.

We established the "remove before flight" status several posts ago. TBZEP pointed out the color (red = remove), and the handles are also a dead giveaway! JeffyJeep agreed too. Then TBZEP found the mounting right on the core nozzles. No way you fly with something mounted there!

As for what the heck they are - a desiccant is another possibility. If that were the case, however, you'd expect to see them in Kourou too.