Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: A day before the US-led western countries pull out their armed forces from Afghanistan completely, a rattled China, sensing a gathering storm in and around the mountainous, war-torn country, has urged America to help keep the war-torn nation peaceful.
Ironically, China does not want the US to keep away from Afghanistan! For, it knows that America’s withdrawal would immediately shift the Taliban focus on its next-worst enemy, China. Unlike the Taliban 1.0, its second version is far more practical and knows that after an atheist Russia it bundled out in1991, it is time in 2021 to start kicking out another atheist, China, which is eying its natural resources worth about $ 2 trillion.
That is why an otherwise belligerent Dragon has turned tail. The situation in Afghanistan, Beijing meekly told Washington on Sunday, has undergone “fundamental changes” and it is necessary for “all parties” to make contact with the Taliban and “guide it actively”, reiterating that America’s troop withdrawal may provide an opportunity for the resurgence of terrorist groups.
With the Taliban power returning in Kabul on September 1, China is mortally frightened about the fate of its $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which passes through Taliban-friendly Islamic hotspots of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The CPEC’s fate also hinges on the success of the mammoth $200 billion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the brainchild of President-for-Life Xi Jinping, and the very lifeline for his own survival in the faction-ridden Communist Party of China (CPC).
Besides, China dreads the specter of the Taliban quickly spreading to Central Asia and the Uyghur Muslim-dominated Xinjiang Province where China has incarcerated and tortured millions of people for decades. Xinjiang is said to be raging with anger against Beijing and willing to break away from the Communist-controlled country. The Taliban has also trained thousands of Uyghur youths to infiltrate Xinjiang for its liberation struggle.
Within a couple of months, the geopolitics of Central Asia as well as South Asia has undergone a sea change and caught both China and Pakistan napping, forcing Beijing and Islamabad to humor the Taliban.
Unsurprisingly, therefore, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday, discussed the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan amidst chaotic airlifts of Afghan civilians and diplomats by the US and NATO countries before the August 31 deadline.
Wang and Blinken also discussed bilateral ties which were riddled with tensions over a host of issues, media reported on Monday.
China said the situation in Afghanistan has undergone “fundamental changes” and it is necessary for “all parties” to make contact with the Taliban and “guide it actively”, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The US, in particular, needs to work with the international community to provide Afghanistan with urgently-needed economic, livelihood, and humanitarian assistance, help the new Afghan political structure maintain normal operation of government institutions, maintain social security and stability, curb currency depreciation and inflation and embark on the journey of peaceful reconstruction at an early date, Wang said.
Facts have proved again that the Afghanistan war never achieved the goal of eliminating terrorist forces in Afghanistan and the hasty withdrawal of the US and NATO troops is likely to offer an opportunity to various terrorist groups in Afghanistan to regroup, Wang told Blinken.
He urged Washington to take concrete actions to help Afghanistan combat terrorism and violence on the premise of respecting its sovereignty and independence, instead of practicing “double standards” or fighting terrorism selectively. Ironically, he echoed India saying the same thing vis-à-vis China!
On China-US relations, Wang said that dialogue is better than confrontation and cooperation is better than conflict and that the Chinese will consider how to engage with Washington based on its attitude towards Beijing.
If the US also hopes to bring bilateral relations back on the right track, it should stop blindly smearing and attacking China, and stop undermining China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, Wang added, with typical Chinese arrogance resurfacing.
Their conversation followed the first round of high-level military talks after US President Joe Biden came to power in January during which the two sides discussed the rapidly evolving situation.
China, along with Russia and Pakistan, has kept its Embassy in Kabul open.
Wang Yu, China’s Ambassador in Afghanistan, had held the first diplomatic talks with the Taliban officials recently. Besides, Beijing is closely coordinating with its “all-weather ally” Pakistan to evolve its Afghanistan policy.
In July, Beijing had hosted a Taliban delegation headed by its co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar who is likely to be the next President of Afghanistan.
In his talks with Baradar, Foreign Minister Wang asked the Taliban to break away from the terrorist groups and not allow the Uyghur separatist group from Xinjiang — the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) — to operate from Afghanistan. Interestingly, Beijing has also urged Washington to re-designate ETIM as a terrorist group it had delisted in November 2020.
After the Taliban’s return to power, China has urged it to build an open and inclusive political structure through consultation, implement moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, thoroughly dissociate from all terrorist groups and maintain friendly relations with the rest of the world, especially neighboring countries.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on August 15, two weeks before the US was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war. This forced Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country to the UAE.