China and Taliban transition to political marriage: experts

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Both after the Taliban hijacked Kabul on August 15th Chinese regime And the Taliban said they were looking forward to their friendship with each other.However, the Chinese have not yet recognized the Taliban as a legitimate ruler, while the Taliban Said What China can do Contribute to Afghanistan development.

While reports of the Taliban conducting a visit survey continue And kill people Including journalists woman, The Taliban spokesperson Interview offer Amnesty International, women’s rights, media freedom.Hua Chunying, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China At a press conference On August 19, “The Taliban in Afghanistan did not repeat its past history and is now clearer and more rational,” and appeared to support the Taliban’s story.

The Taliban has been visiting intellectuals and journalists since the acquisition, according to sources in The Epoch Times.

A few days before the Taliban occupied the capital, sources based in the Epoch Times Kabul said 51 targeted killings by “unknown men” were reported nationwide in June alone, subject to anonymity.

The Taliban have distrusted most of the targeted killings by civilians since the signing of a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban in February 2020. The agreement states that the types of attacks that terrorists can carry out and the disapproval of assassinations are related to peace negotiation diplomacy. January report by Gandhara.

In any case, reports of Taliban violence do not prevent China from working with the Taliban. Experts said the Chinese have increased contact with the Taliban since August 15 and are preparing for a political marriage in earnest.

“It provides the Taliban with international support, and perhaps intelligence and logistical support for the United States. By doing so, we hope to further humiliate the United States and contribute to the decline of the region.” Slicant Condapali, a professor of Chinese studies at the University of Java, Harlar, New Delhi, said.

“In the short term, China is likely to provide all the support to the Taliban to conquer Afghanistan and form a stable government,” he said. He said China is in contact with the Taliban not only through its own military ties, but also through Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

August 18, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China Said It has not yet officially acknowledged the Taliban as controlling Afghanistan, and its approval will come after the government is formed.

Epoch Times Photo
Afghan Taliban Militia STR / AFP / Getty Images

History of CCP-Taliban Friendship

The relationship between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Taliban can be traced back to the 1970s, when Chinese military intelligence agencies trained the Mujahideen in the fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, Condapali said.

“Hundreds of Chinese trainers have provided training and weapons (AK 47 and Red Arrow missiles) to the Mujahideen and other neighboring areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to Gen Xiong Guangkai (former PLA Vice-President). Over the years, China has strengthened its ties with Tullivan and Afghanistan, especially the Hekmatial Group before the 911 incident, “he said.

Reports of contact were further deepened as China paid the Taliban for captured, unexploded ordnance, and even exploding US weapons. October 2001 Guardian Report China claimed to have paid bin Laden millions of dollars to access unexploded US cruise missiles.

About a year ago, at the end of 2000, the UN Security Council proposed sanctions to the Taliban, forcing them to close bin Laden’s terrorist training camp on its territory, but China abstained from voting. Instead, shortly after the United States launched airstrikes in Afghanistan, it dispatched military personnel to assist the Taliban, according to the Epoch Times book “How Communist Ghosts Dominate Our World.”

“The Chinese ambassador to Pakistan was involved. [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar who proposed not to support Uighurs in lieu of UNSC protection [UN Security Council] For the Taliban. After 911, China continued its ties with the Taliban and its supporter, the Pakistani ISI, and clarified the view that the Kabul government should have a broad foundation. [meaning the Taliban should be given positions in the government]”Konda Paris said.

In addition, in 2004, Chinese intelligence used shell companies in financial markets around the world to help bin Laden raise money and do money laundering. It was published in the Association for Asian Studies.

Chinese spokesmen denied them in response to questions about media coverage of close contact with the Chinese Taliban Press conference in August 2001..

However, China’s interest in Afghanistan has long been known. A 2017 paper by Kenneth Katzman and Clayton Thomas, published by the Congressional Research Service, lists three Chinese interests in Afghanistan. (((pdf)

“China’s involvement in Afghanistan was primarily to secure access to Afghanistan’s minerals and other resources, to help its ally Pakistan avoid siege by India. And Islam for China itself. To reduce the threat of militants, “said Katzman and Thomas.

China says it doesn’t want to get involved in the internal affairs of other countries, but the Chinese Communist Party administration is “making a wedge” between the Kabul government and the Taliban.

“For the past decade, China has been by inviting individual contacts, UN intervention, multilateral assistance through the Istanbul process, the Doha Conference, and the Taliban to the quadrilateral with Beijing, Urumki, Xi’an, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, etc. It laid the foundation for the Taliban’s resurrection, “he said.

Brent E. Huffman, director of “Saving Mes Aynak,” a highly acclaimed documentary at a 5000-year-old Buddhist archaeological site near Kabul in a copper mine that China has long been interested in: Told to. The invitation of the Taliban’s high-ranking leaders to Beijing began almost 10 years ago.

“China’s state-owned mining company MCC purchased $ 100 billion in mining rights in 2007 at Mes Aynak in Afghanistan in Logar, near the Taliban’s headquarters. He attacked and was killed when an Afghan archaeologist arrived at the scene in 2018 when his car hit a mine, “Huffman said. According to him, Afghan archaeologists working in the field are constantly threatened by the Taliban, and since August 15, they are afraid of their lives.

“China wants to partner with the Taliban to mine at Metz Inak without restrictions related to the protection of the environment, human rights and cultural heritage,” he said.

Talking in Regular press conference On August 17, the Chinese Communist Party “maintains contact and communication with the Taliban in Afghanistan based on full respect for Afghanistan’s sovereignty and the will of all factions in the country, and promotes a political resolution of the Afghan problem. It played a constructive role above. ” .. “

Epoch Times Photo
Taliban fighters are guarding a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, near the US embassy, ​​where US troops were previously stationed, on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. (AP photo)

The future of the relationship between the CCP and the Taliban

Frank Lehberger, a Sinologist and senior researcher at the Usanas Foundation based in India, said the relationship between the Taliban and CCP in Afghanistan would be like a political marriage, but CCP is a close strategic partnership.

“The Chinese Communist Party needs relatively stable Afghanistan for BRI. [Belt and Road Initiative] schedule. The Taliban could do this if they weren’t involved in a protracted civil war in Afghanistan in a genocide against Shiites and Turkmen minorities, “German-based Leberger said.

“And the Taliban do not follow their vast reflexes as they seek to acquire land or destabilize neighboring pro-Moscow regimes in Central Asia (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc.) on a large scale. If so, it would stimulate Putin, “he said. He said there was a scenario in which the Taliban would turn backwards to respond to the Chinese Communist Party’s intentions.

“As long as the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party pay the amount of foreign currency quickly or provide all the infrastructure investment that Afghanistan and the Taliban desire, and the Chinese Communist Party is currently expanding illegal drugs from Afghanistan under Taliban control to Europe. Unless it interferes with the export trade that is taking place (which will benefit Afghanistan-Taliban and help weaken the so-called Infidel in Europe), then the Taliban will be “good” for China, “he says. rice field.

In this scenario, the Taliban ignores how the Chinese Communist Party treats Islam in China, Uighur or other Muslim separatists remaining in and on the territory of Afghanistan According to Leberger, near the Wakhan Corridor next to China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

“But if the CCP doesn’t want or can’t provide the expected funding in time, or if the Taliban does something that doesn’t please the Taliban, the Taliban bite China’s hands to feed them very quickly. Would, “he said.

Ahmad Rashid Salim, a best-selling author, community leader and scholar who studies and teaches topics in the fields of Islamic studies, Persian literature and Afghanistan in California, told the Epoch Times over the phone that China’s presentation would be successful. You need to be on the lookout for the world with the Taliban.

“”China is known for its oppressive system and human rights abuses. Recently, it has been associated with Uighur Muslim camps, torture, disappearances, and the elimination of culture and heritage, “said Salim, adding that China wants to harness the natural resources of Afghanistan.

“As long as the governing system allows Chinese companies to use resources, China doesn’t care what they do to the population or how oppressive their control is.”

Huffman said that when China began digging at the Metz Inak open-pit copper mine under the Taliban’s protection, it would destroy a valuable World Heritage Site forever.

The value of Afghanistan’s mineral resources is estimated at $ 1 trillion, including the rare earth minerals that China dominates its supply chain.

Venus Upadayaya

Venus Upadhayaya reports on various issues. Her area of ​​expertise is geopolitics in India and South Asia. She reports from the highly volatile Indian-Pakistan border and has contributed to India’s mainstream print media for almost a decade. Community media, sustainable development and leadership continue to be her key areas of interest.

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