China’s top diplomat on Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, this week reiterated the Communist Party’s demands for the United States to lift sanctions and allow Taliban terrorists access to frozen Afghan government funds.
The United Nations convened a meeting in Doha, Qatar, once the site of the Taliban’s “political office” during the Afghanistan war, to discuss how other countries should appropriately engage with the group.The conference was attended by representatives of several UN member states, but also by the Taliban terrorists themselves. Rejected They called on the United Nations to join them and to recognize them as Afghanistan’s legitimate government before joining. As a result, the conference failed to produce any agreement or visible progress regarding the country’s relations with the United Nations.
President Joe Biden’s disastrous decision to extend the 20-year war in Afghanistan beyond May 2021 has left the Taliban in charge of Afghanistan since they almost bloodlessly captured the capital, Kabul, in August 2021. There is.
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Former U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled the capital soon after the Taliban leaders arrived, and the country’s U.S.-funded military and political infrastructure quickly collapsed.
Taliban take to the streets on August 15, 2022, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on a national holiday celebrating the first anniversary of the Taliban occupation. The country is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis. Western governments have pressured the Taliban to honor unfulfilled promises on security, governance and human rights, and have frozen billions of dollars in Afghan assets. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images).
As the Taliban enters its third year of rule in the country, some rogue government groups have recognized the Taliban (officially known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) as the country’s “interim government.” However, only China has welcomed a Taliban ambassador to its capital in an official capacity. Chinese officials have also publicly praised the Taliban, saying they are “promoting the restoration of national peace and independent development.”
The Taliban has enthusiastically embraced cooperation with Communist China, despite the continued genocide of Muslims across the Afghan border, joining the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in October and pursuing oil, Signed an agreement to strengthen mining and other industrial cooperation. Reported contacts between the Taliban and Chinese companies include talks between Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior and telecommunications giant Huawei announced by the Taliban in October. advertise As such, it is at the forefront of authoritarian surveillance technology.
The Chinese Communist Party, a major recipient of Taliban business, is one of the most vocal supporters of giving jihadists access to Afghan government funds that the United States froze after the fall of Kabul. The Chinese government has also called on the United States through state media to invest generously in Afghanistan’s post-war reconstruction, amounting to funding the Taliban.
Although the Taliban have taken control of Kabul’s presidential palace and other key facilities, they still have no access to billions of dollars in Afghan government funds frozen in foreign banks. Institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have also refused to lend to the Taliban, saying they are not Afghanistan’s legitimate government.
“As always, the IMF is guided by the opinion of the international community,” Spokesman Jerry Rice said days after the Taliban rose to power in August 2021.Afghan government, resulting in the country losing access to the SDR [Special Drawing Rights] or other IMF resources. ”
Monaka interview Chinese state newspaper and Global Times On Tuesday, in connection with the failure of the UN summit, Yue Xiaoyong, China’s special envoy for Afghanistan, reiterated the party’s demand that the US provide funding to the Taliban.
“I hope the United States will stop making excuses and start facing the real problems facing Afghanistan,” Yue huffed in an interview, expressing disdain for the United States, which has established a $3.5 billion humanitarian fund in Afghanistan. However, he claimed that the amount was “of little use so far.” play a role in helping the country. ” in contrast, Global Times Citing the “11-point document” prepared by the Chinese government as an example, he claimed that China “carried out a wealth of activities” to support the Taliban.
The frozen funds Yue mentioned are believed to be worth about $7 billion. The funds have been frozen in response to the Taliban government’s illegitimacy, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres has indicated it will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
“On the one hand, Afghanistan maintains a government that is not internationally recognized and in many respects not integrated into world institutions or the global economy,” Guterres said. Said In Doha, the Taliban were invited to a summit on Afghanistan, but explained that they did not attend because the United Nations rejected their request.
“These circumstances, first of all, denied us the right to speak with other representatives of Afghan society and demanded treatment that, to a large extent, approximated recognition,” Guterres explained.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s top spokesman, said: Said Afghanistan’s Toro News reported on Wednesday that the Taliban hopes to join the United Nations in similar meetings in the future, but only if they respect the terrorists’ terms.
“If the demands of the Islamic Emirate are accepted and considered important, we will definitely participate in future meetings,” Mujahid asserted.
However, the Taliban declared the Qatar summit a failure because the only actor with political power in Afghanistan did not attend. Only the Qatari government, which has carved out a unique position in geopolitics by taking sides in several regional conflicts, seemed to think the summit was worth its time. declare “Proud” to have hosted the event.
