US Policy Failed in Afghanistan – Head of Taliban Assured NO SUPPORT for Terrorist ORGs including East Turkistan; China

Beijing; China has expressed its position on Taliban taking over Kabul as ” China continues to maintain communication with all parties after major changes took place in Afghanistan in recent days. Last night, State Councilor Wang Yi had telephone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Blinken upon invitation. The Chinese side also participated in the UNSC emergency meeting on Afghanistan. China encourages the Afghan Taliban to pursue a moderate and prudent religious policy, work with other parties to form an open and inclusive political structure, pursue a foreign policy of peace and friendship, and in particular, live in harmony with its neighboring countries and achieve reconstruction and development in Afghanistan.”

This was stated by Ms Hua Chunying, Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in press briefing held on 17 Aug 2021.

She further said that we also hope that the new Afghan regime will make a clean break with all kinds of international terrorist forces, restrain and combat terrorist forces including the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement ETIM, and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a gathering place of terrorist and extremist forces again.

China will continue to maintain close communication and coordination with all relevant parties to push for an end to the war and lasting peace in Afghanistan at an early date.

 As Afghanistan’s largest neighbor, China has always respected Afghanistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, adhered to non-interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and pursued a friendly policy toward the entire Afghan people.

China has all along maintained contact and communication with the Afghan Taliban on the basis of fully respecting Afghanistan’s sovereignty and the will of all factions in the country, and played a constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the Afghan issue.

On July 28, FM Wang Yi met with the visiting delegation led by head of the Afghan Taliban political committee Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Tianjin. He expressed the hope that the Afghan Taliban will put the interests of the country and nation first, hold high the banner of peace talks, set the goal of peace, build a positive image and pursue an inclusive policy. All factions and ethnic groups in Afghanistan should form solidarity, truly implement the “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” principle, push for early substantive results in the peace and reconciliation process, and independently establish a broad-based and inclusive political structure that suits Afghanistan’s national realities.

In recent days, Yue Xiaoyong, the Special Envoy of the Chinese government on the Afghan issue, has shuttled intensively between Afghanistan, Russia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Iran.

Bloomberg questioned that ” Has China discussed the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement issue with the Afghan Taliban? Will China require that the Taliban disavow the ETIM in order to be recognized by Beijing as Afghanistan’s government?”

Spokesperson Hua Chunying responded that the ETIM is an international terrorist organization designated by the UN Security Council, which poses a direct threat to the security of China and its people. Combating the ETIM is the common responsibility of the international community. China once cooperated with the Afghan government in the fight against the ETIM, and now the head of the Afghan Taliban has made it clear to China that no force will be allowed to use the Afghan territory to do anything harmful to China. We hope that the Afghan Taliban will make a clean break with all terrorist organizations, including the ETIM, and resolutely and firmly crack down on the ETIM so as to remove obstacles to regional security, stability, development and cooperation.

CGTN asked “The international public opinion in the recent two days has been focusing on the current Afghan situation and the US responsibility in it. US President Joe Biden said in his remarks that the decision to end the 20-year Afghan War is the “right one for America”, and that the US mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation building. The US media widely share the opinion that the US policy on Afghanistan is a complete failure. The CNN, for example, compared the withdrawal of US troops from Kabul to a new “Saigon moment”. The New York Times said the situation “may strike another blow to US credibility” among US allies. What is your comment?”

Hua Chunying answered that  US launched the Afghan War in the name of counterterrorism. But has the US won? After 20 years, the number of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan has grown to more than 20 from a single digit. Has the US brought peace to the Afghan people? For 20 years, more than 100,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or wounded in the gunfire of US troops and its ally forces, and more than 10 million people have been displaced. The Afghan War caused an average loss of $60 million on a daily basis, putting a drag on the socioeconomic development of Afghanistan. The US troops have also paid the price of more than 2,400 deaths and over 2 trillion dollars.

” I also noticed that President Biden said, the US mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation building. This is the truth. Wherever the US sets foot, be it Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan, we see turbulence, division, broken families, deaths and other scars in the mess it has left. The US power and role is destructive rather than constructive. As State Councilor Wang Yi stressed in his phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last night, facts have proved again that military intervention and power politics win no support and are doomed to fail. A model copied from another country can hardly fit or stand in a country with distinctively different history, culture and national conditions. Solving problems with power and military means would only lead to even more problems.”

“I also noticed President Biden said in his remarks that he will not repeat the mistake of doubling down on a civil war in a foreign country, or attempting to remake a country through the endless military deployments of US forces. We hope the US could seriously reflect on its willful military intervention and belligerent policy, stop using democracy and human rights as an excuse to arbitrarily interfere in other countries’ internal affairs and undermine peace and stability in other countries and regions.” She concluded.