By Mujeeb Rahman Awrang Stanikzai in TOLOnews, Apr12, 2023 at 9:22 PM
The embassy of China in Kabul shed light on 11 points that clarified the country’s position regarding Afghanistan.
The point first, the embassy said in a statement, was that China respects the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and that it also respects the independent choices made by the Afghan people and respects the religious beliefs and national customs of Afghanistan.
“China never interferes in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, never seeks selfish interests in Afghanistan, and never pursues so-called sphere of influence,” the statement said.
The statement gives ten more points:
Supporting moderate and prudent governance in Afghanistan.
Supporting peace and reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Supporting Afghanistan in countering terrorism resolutely and forcefully.
Calling for greater bilateral and multilateral counter-terrorism cooperation.
Working together to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism in Afghanistan.
Urging the US to live up to its commitments and responsibilities to Afghanistan.
Opposing external interference and infiltration in Afghanistan.
Strengthening international and regional coordination on the Afghan issue.
Facilitating solution to Afghanistan’s humanitarian and refugee issues.
Supporting Afghanistan’s fight against narcotics.
The statement furthered that China hopes that “Afghanistan could build an open and inclusive political structure, adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, and engage in friendly exchanges with all countries especially neighboring countries.”
The statement stressed protecting the basic rights and interests of all Afghan people by the interim Afghan government “including women, children and all ethnic groups.”
According to the statement, China will continue to “do its best” to help Afghanistan with reconstruction and development, as well as promote steady progress in economic, trade and investment cooperation.
“China welcomes Afghanistan’s participation in Belt and Road cooperation and supports Afghanistan’s integration into regional economic cooperation and connectivity that will transform Afghanistan from a land-locked country to a land-linked country,” the statement said.
The statement also expressed concerns over the presence of the “East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM)” saying that it poses a severe threat to the security of China, Afghanistan and the region. It hoped that “Afghanistan will fulfill its commitment in earnest and take more effective measures to crack down on all terrorist forces.”
It suggested that Afghanistan should be supported in taking comprehensive measures to address both the symptoms and root causes of terrorism and “prevent the country from again becoming a safe haven, breeding ground and source of terrorism.”
The statement also criticized the US: “It is a widely-held view in the international community that, by seizing Afghanistan’s overseas assets and imposing unilateral sanctions, the US, which created the Afghan issue in the first place, is the biggest external factor that hinders substantive improvement in the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.”
“The US should draw lessons from what happened in Afghanistan, face squarely the grave humanitarian, economic and security risks and challenges in Afghanistan, immediately lift its sanctions, return the Afghan overseas assets, and deliver its pledged humanitarian aid to meet the emergency needs of the Afghan people,” the statement reads.
According to the statement, it is a shared view of regional countries that the military interference and “democratic transformation” by external forces in Afghanistan over the past 20-years have inflicted “enormous losses and pain on Afghanistan.”
The statement suggested that “under the new circumstances,” Afghanistan should be a platform for cooperation among various parties rather than geopolitical games.
China also vowed to provide assistance through bilateral and multilateral channels for the Afghan refugees.
“China looks forward to and supports more concrete actions by Afghanistan to counter narcotics cultivation, production and illicit trafficking, and will work with the international community to help Afghanistan with alternative development and crackdown on cross-border drug-related crimes, so as to eliminate the source of narcotics in the region,” the statement said.
https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-182943
