China ‘willing’ to work with US on Afghanistan, but calls for easing of other pressures
- In a flurry of diplomatic calls, Washington’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken secured Beijing’s support for cooperation, but not at any price
- Blinken has also spoken to Russia’s foreign minister and discussions have also been held between Moscow and Beijing
In a flurry of diplomatic phone calls, Blinken also spoke to Lavrov, as well as Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, the European Union’s high representative Josep Borrell and foreign ministers from Pakistan, Britain and Turkey, in the aftermath of the chaotic fall of the Afghan government as the Taliban took over Kabul and the presidential palace on Monday.
Afghan chaos left by US a ‘lesson’ for Taiwan, Chinese media warns
While the US State Department provided few details of the Wang-Blinken discussion, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said Beijing had called for Washington to “play a constructive role” and take part in the peaceful reconstruction of the war-torn country.
“China is willing to communicate and dialogue with the US to push for a soft landing of the Afghanistan problem, preventing new civil war or humanitarian disaster in the country, to avoid it from [becoming] a breeding ground and shelter for terrorism, and encouraging Afghanistan to set up an inclusive political framework in line with the Afghanistan situation,” Wang said.
03:24
At least 7 people killed at Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans try to flee Taliban: US officials
In his remarks, Biden said it was wrong for US troops to bear the cost in Afghanistan, and that one or several more years of a US military presence there would not have made a difference in mounting a resistance to the Taliban.
“And our true strategic competitors – China and Russia – would love nothing more than the United States to continue to funnel billions of dollars in resources and attention into stabilising Afghanistan indefinitely,” he said.
Wang said what happened in Afghanistan “once again proved that it would only lead to failure to apply a foreign model mechanically to a country with a different history, culture and situation”.
“A regime cannot hold on without the support of the people. Strong power and military methods will only lead to more questions,” he said.
China to support Taliban in Afghanistan, but demands end to ETIM ties
Wang said it was “dangerous and mistaken” of the previous US administration to remove the Eastern Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) from its terror list, describing it as a “double standard” in Washington’s war on terrorism. He called for a US policy shift to “clear the barriers” to China-US cooperation on Afghanistan issues and global terrorism.
He reiterated Beijing’s stance on bilateral relations, saying China and the US should coordinate and cooperate in global challenges and regional hot issues, but warned that Washington should not count on China’s cooperation while it was deliberately working to contain China and hurts its interests.
“Facing various global challenges and urgent regional hotspot issues, China and the US should carry out coordination and cooperation, which is also the expectation held by the global community. But the US should not on one hand deliberately contain and suppress China and harm its legitimate interests, meanwhile counting on China for support and cooperation. Such logic never exists in international exchange,” Wang said.
‘I do not regret my decision’: Biden defends US exit from Afghanistan
He said the US and China should find a way for “peaceful coexistence” based on respect and that the US should hold a “rational and pragmatic” China policy and respect China’s core interests and major concerns.
The US state department’s brief statement on the call said the two discussed developments in Afghanistan “including the security situation and our respective efforts to bring US and PRC citizens to safety”.
Xinhua provided more detail, reporting that Blinken had said the Taliban should announce a clean break with extremism, opt for an orderly transfer of power and establish an inclusive government. He also expressed the hope that China would play an important role to this end.
According to Xinhua, Blinken also said the US recognised that the future of Afghanistan should be decided by the Afghan people, and called on the Taliban to ensure the safety of all those who wished to leave the country.
“The US reiterated its opposition to all kinds of terrorism and does not seek turbulence at the border region in China’s west region,” Xinhua said, adding that Blinken had said both countries could seek constructive ways to address bilateral conflicts.
01:28
China warns UN about a possible resurgence of terrorism in Afghanistan after Taliban victory
In his discussions with Lavrov, Wang said China and Russia should step up their communications over Afghanistan to push the Taliban to ensure the safety of their citizens and organizations, and encourage the Taliban to adopt a mild religious policy and crackdown on terrorism, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.
The readout quoted Lavrov as saying Russia was willing to jointly monitor and address with China the developments in Afghanistan.
Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, called on the international community to increase its humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries that are receiving large numbers of displaced Afghans. He also blamed the withdrawal of US and Nato troops for the chaos in Afghanistan.
“Those relevant countries should earnestly honour their commitments to support peace, reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan and play a constructive role in Afghanistan,” he said.
India said on Tuesday it was withdrawing its diplomatic staff from Kabul. Arindam Bagchi, spokesman for India’s external affairs ministry, announced the move on Twitter. “In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately,” he said.
