China warns some international forces may create new troubles for Afghanistan

BEIJING: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that Afghanistan is now standing at the crossroads of history and facing severe challenges of humanitarian issues, people's livelihoods and the Covid-19 pandemic. He also warned that some international forces may also use political, economic and financial means to create new troubles for Afghanistan.

The foreign minister was addressing the 'First Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the Afghan Issue Among the Neighboring Countries' of Afghanistan in Beijing via video link on Wednesday. Chaired by Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, it was attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Vepa Hajiyev.

Addressing the conference, the foreign minister said the Taliban have announced an interim government, which in itself indicates a lot of uncertainties confronting Afghanistan's future. He said as the neighboring countries, we are more eager to see the country get out of war and chaos, and resume development by seizing the opportunity to exert a positive influence on the situation.

Wang Yi stressed on the United States and its allies to learn its lessons and assume their due responsibilities. "The United States and its allies are the culprits of the Afghan issue. Over the past 20 years, terrorist forces in Afghanistan have been on the rise instead of being eradicated," and the Afghans forced into poverty and hardship instead of achieving development and dignity.

The common view of the international community, the foreign minister said, is the United States and its allies to assume their responsibilities to provide economic, livelihood and humanitarian assistance to the Afghans and help the country stabilise.

The Chinese state councilor and foreign minister, urged the Taliban to unite all ethnic groups and factions, build a broad and inclusive political structure, pursue moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, draw a clear line with terrorist forces, and develop friendly relations with other countries, especially neighbors.

"We welcome their statements but the key is to transform them into concrete action. The two most important points are extensive tolerance and resolute crackdown on terrorism," he reiterated. Afghanistan's neighbours should help the country strengthen pandemic prevention and control. Beijing has already decided to donate three million vaccines in the first batch besides providing more anti-pandemic and emergency materials. Afghanistan's economic and trade exchanges are highly dependent on land ports and the neighbouring countries must allow unimpeded ports of entry with that country. Beijing is ready to actively discuss the resumption of China-Afghanistan freight trains, support neighbours in enhancing customs clearance capacity-building with Afghanistan, and facilitate Afghanistan’s interaction with the outside world, especially its access to humanitarian supplies. The neighbours must strengthen the management and control of refugees and migrants especially, the US and its allies should provide countries in a position to host refugees with necessary compensations.

Wang Yi also called on the Taliban to make its administration more inclusive and predictable to reduce the number of new refugees and migrants. Meanwhile, we should vigorously support the UN and other multilateral mechanisms in playing an active role in this regard, he said.

The Chinese foreign minister called upon the neighbouring countries to offer humanitarian assistance and added China would urgently provide food, materials for winter, Covid-19 vaccines, and medicines worth 200 million yuan. He also pledged to help the war-torn country build projects to improve livelihood, support peace, reconstruction and economic development when security and other conditions are available. The foreign minister also called for deepening cooperation on the counter-terrorism and security fronts and underlined the need of the regional countries to emphasise upon “the Taliban to make a clean break with all extremist and terrorist forces and take effective steps to restrain and combat them. All parties should step up intelligence sharing and cooperation in border control, timely arrest and eliminate terrorist groups slipping in from Afghanistan, and ensure regional security and stability.” Wang Yi also called for intensive cooperation in drug control and help Afghan farmers launch alternative cultivation.

The foreign ministers’ meeting, he said, is the first attempt by Afghanistan’s neighbours for establishment of a coordination and cooperation mechanism, so they can share policy propositions, coordinate their positions and jointly address challenges through this platform.