By Özgür Altınbaş
The United States’ 20-years-long occupation of Afghanistan has ended and American troops had to flee the country in a pitiful way. This situation made another US defeat obvious. The US had planned and attempted a coup in Venezuela using Juan Guaido – unsuccessfully. The US had to withdraw from Libya. The National Assembly of Iraq voted and approved the decision to expel US soldiers from the country. The US is losing more and more losing control in Syria, where Damascus regains more territory day by day. The US has not succeeded in dominating China in the trade war. Since its defeat in Vietnam, the US was forced to withdraw from many places and is losing ground in many fields. Taking all together, we are witnessing an “era of defeats” for the United States.
The recent events in Kabul have in a way summarized the situation of the US in Afghanistan and globally. The US has spent 2 trillion dollars in the 20-years-long occupation. 88 billion dollars alone were spent for the Afghan army and security forces. The result: 300-thousand-strong Afghan army abandoned Kabul to the 70-thousand strong Taliban force, without even firing a shot.
The meeting in Tianjin
With the Taliban’s conquest of Kabul, the current Afghan government has crushed down and several government officials including the President Ashraf Ghani have left the country. Now, Afghanistan faces the task to establish a new government. Bargaining on the nature and constitution is continuing at the negotiation table established in Qatar’s capital Doha. While these negotiations continue, different countries take a specific position concerning the current conflict. The People’s Republic of China has been one of the first countries to react. China has established contact to the Taliban at level of ambassador in Doha, thus leading communication with the group not behind the doors but in an official manner. China has hosted representatives of the Taliban in Tianjin on July 28, with the country’s Foreign Minister welcoming the Afghan delegation, even before the Taliban had established full control over Afghanistan. With that visit, China has hosted the Taliban at highest level, in difference to other countries.
China is hopeful of the new government
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has had official meetings with an 8-person-delegation of the Taliban led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the President of the Political Commission of the Taliban. Wang Yi stated that as Afghanistan’s biggest neighbor, China has always respected the country’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, announcing that friendly relations will be established between the two countries. Wang’s strongest emphases in the Tianjin meeting were indications that the Taliban was going to build the future Afghan government. In his statement, Wang said that the Taliban was an important political and military force in Afghanistan, which was expected to play an important role in the country’s peace, reconciliation and reconstruction process. Wang Yi said he hoped that the Taliban will in that sense prioritize the country and nation’s interests, take an active stance in the peace negotiations, actively pursing the goal of peace, constructing a positive image an following an inclusive policy.
Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Global Times argued that by developing relations with the Taliban will be important for China in order to both provide stability in Afghanistan and lead a more effective struggle against the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). “The Taliban tends to go to extremes on religious matters and shares values with many terrorist groups. To what extent will their shared values lead to real acts requires an objective assessment. (…) In particular, we should not easily reject the goodwill from the Taliban, which is of great significance to our exerting influence in Afghanistan and maintaining stability in Xinjiang”, wrote Hu.
A joint picture with Chinese politicians was very important for the image that the Taliban delivers to the global public opinion. China in a sense was delivering the message that the Taliban, which have been fighting against the US, was the most important force to establish stability in the region. China’s practical steps taken in Doha and Tianjin have paved the way for the Taliban to present itself on the international stage as a legitimate force.
China borders Afghanistan in the region of Xinjiang. China’s struggle against terror targets in that region mainly the ETIM. During the US occupation, terror organizations had made border crossings between Afghanistan and China. For that reason, the region is a sensible area concerning China’s anti-terror struggle.
Common ground is struggle against terror
Important measures in the context of the anti-terror struggle were taken following the bilateral meetings. Wang Yi delivered a very clear message to the Taliban concerning the ETIM. Wang emphasized that China considers along with the UN Security Council decisions the ETIM as an international terror organization, which constitutes a direct threat to Chinese national security and territorial integrity. He declared his country’s hope that the Taliban makes a clear cut with all terror organizations including the ETIM, plays a positive role in the anti-terror struggle and thus contributes to establishing security in the region.
The President of the Political Commission of the Taliban, Baradar on the other side emphasized that China has always been a trusted friend of the Afghan people. He saluted China’s constructive contribution to establish peace and stability in Afghanistan and stated: “We will never allow any force to use Afghan soil for actions that harm China”. Thus, Baradar provided China an assurance especially concerning ETIM. Suheyil Shaheen, one of the spokesperson of the Taliban who participated in the Doha-Talks, said they would never allow the Uighur separatists to enter China via Afghanistan. This is as vital for Afghanistan as it is for China, because the future Taliban government needs to establish good relations with China, Russia and Pakistan in order to maintain itself. China has declared it will recognize the Taliban because both it has observed the Taliban’s struggle against the US and it intends to break Washington’s influence.
China elaborates that the Taliban have changed
China’s first official statement after the Taliban delegation’s visit was to say, “We respect the choice of the Afghan people”. Hua Chunying, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, made the declaration. Hua reminded that war in Afghanistan was going on since 40 years and said “the end of the war and the establishment of peace is the common desire of 30 million Afghans, of the whıle international community and the countries of the region”. China also announced it had received assurances from the Taliban that diplomatic missions in Kabul would be protected and that therefore the embassies were kept open and functioning. The Taliban itself has also announced that the Chinese diplomatic missions in Afghanistan are under its protection.
In a press conference on August 19, Hu stated the following:
“I want to say that nothing stays unchanged. When understanding and handling problems, we should adopt a holistic, interconnected and developmental dialectical approach. We should look at both the past and the present. We need to not only listen to what they say, but also look at what they do. If we do not keep pace with the times, but stick to fixed mindset and ignore the development of the situation, we will never reach a conclusion that is in line with reality. In fact, the rapid evolution of the situation in Afghanistan also reveals how the outside world lacked objective judgment on the local situation and accurate understanding of the public opinion there. In this respect, some western countries in particular should learn some lessons.”
She also added that China hopes that the Taliban unites with all political elements in Afghanistan when establishing the new government. China doubtlessly expects the Taliban to establish an inclusive government. China had declared that it “supports the Afghan people in making the best choice for their interests.”
The Chinese TV channel CCTV’s interviews on the streets of Kabul also call attention. CCTV reports that life in Kabul returns to normal and the Afghans evaluate the events as a chance for peace. Chinese media’s picture of Afghanistan after the arrival of Taliban draws a country where peace and stability will arrive.
A more active role for Afghanistan in Belt and Road
Afghanistan is of crucial important for the Belt and Road Initiative. Afghanistan is one of the doors of the initiative to West Asia, hence providing its security is of utmost importance. Accordingly, the US does not only try to implement a competition to the Belt and Road, it also supports the terror organizations in the region against the initiative.
Especially the opening if the China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor to the sea is of vital importance. The establishment of a government in Kabul that lead good economic, political, and security relations with China and the regional countries is very important for Afghanistan’s stability. Suheyl Shaheen’s statement of content of Chinese investments in Afghanistan shows the economic and developmental side of the issue.
A nation and a state that has liberated itself from a 20 years occupation need economic investments in order to rise up again. In that context, it is planned that the 62-billion China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor shall also include Afghanistan. When the agreement to build a highway between Pakistan’s city Peshawar and Kabul is signed, Afghanistan officially will be part of the China-Pakistan-Economic-Corridor. And China is very willing on this issue.