Boosted by China ties, Taliban now faces tough call on ETIM crackdown

Analysts say the Islamist group’s meeting with representatives from Beijing gave it the impression of endorsement from a major world power

But the Taliban has a challenge on its hands in acceding to China’s request to curb the activities of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement

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Afghan security officials patrol on August 5 after taking back parts of Herat city following intense fighting with Taliban militants. Photo: EPA

Published: 9:30pm, 6 Aug 2021Updated: 10:44pm, 6 Aug 2021

As the Taliban escalates attacks to capture cities in Afghanistan, analysts say its confidence has been boosted by last week’s meeting with China, even though Beijing did not give a clear indication that it backed the Islamist group’s military excursions.

During the July 28 meeting with a visiting nine-member delegation led by the Taliban’s chief negotiator and co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said he supported the group’s role in national reconstruction but demanded that it cut ties with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which Beijing blames for attacks in its restive Xinjiang region.

Nishank Motwani, an expert on Afghanistan affairs, said the Taliban’s meeting with Wang had “boosted the group’s confidence in its military strategy”.

“Standing shoulder to shoulder with the Chinese foreign minister creates the impression that a major world power has endorsed the group politically, and its end goal to depose the Afghan government,” he said.

Andrew Small, a senior transatlantic fellow with the German Marshall Fund’s Asia Programme, said the Taliban had always sought diplomatic support from China, “which has been one of its most promising routes to international legitimacy”.

The group would also have sought to reassure Chinese anxieties during the meeting, Small said, adding that over the longer term it would be seeking Beijing’s economic backing as well.

Afghanistan has the world’s largest unexploited reserves of the likes of copper, coal, cobalt, mercury, gold, and lithium, valued at over US$1 trillion. China is currently the largest foreign investor in the country.