Afghanistan Times
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Afghanistan and China have long been partners with shared destiny. Our friendship dates back to the ancient Silk Road period. In the over 2,000 years of exchanges, there has never been any conflict between the two countries, which is a miracle in the history of international relations. Bilateral ties continue deepening in the new era. In their fights against imperialism and colonialism, China and Afghanistan have sympathized with and supported each other, strived in parallel for national independence and self-strengthening, supported together the Non-Aligned Movement and the UN Development Agenda, and jointly fought international terrorism and transnational organized crimes.
China has in the course of its own development supported the reconstruction of Afghanistan. We welcome Afghanistan to board our express train of development, make full use of its geographical position and resources and take an active part in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We encourage viable Chinese enterprises to invest and develop business in Afghanistan, build schools and hospitals here and help local agricultural products such as saffron and pine nuts to explore the Chinese market, thus benefiting Afghan farmers and businessmen. Since 2001, China has provided billions of RMB in gratuitous assistance to Afghanistan and built a number of infrastructure facilities that benefit Afghan people, including the Jamhuryat Hospital in Kabul and the National Vocational and Technical College. China has been Afghanistan’s second largest source of imports and third largest destination of exports for quite a few years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese side has delivered six batches of supplies to support the local response and held several online medical experts meetings to share the Chinese experience.
China has always been a supporter, mediator and facilitator of the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. We sincerely hope for and promote an early realization of peace, tranquility and prosperity in Afghanistan. We support the Afghan-led, Afghan-owned principle, encourage all parties to the conflict to enhance dialogue and foster a common understanding for reconciliation within Afghanistan and across the region, and support the intra-Afghan negotiations. China has advocated and created China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue to help the other two countries to improve relations. We work to make Afghanistan a haven of cooperation for all countries rather than a new platform of gaming between major powers. We steer the international community to forge synergy for peace in Afghanistan.
Not long ago, a senior official said that former President Donald Trump had received information that China was trying to fund non-state actors to attack US troops in Afghanistan. It is sheer nonsense and outright fake news made up to smear China. This shows how crazy some people have become in order to tarnish China’s image and disrupt relations with China. In addition to continued smears, rumors and fabricated news about Xinjiang and so called human rights, they have played the new trick of alienating China from other countries, using “facts” and “evidence” already proven false and groundless. China has always pursued an independent foreign policy of peace. It has never taken the initiative to launch a war against any other country, much less to fund attacks by non-state actors against other countries. China has also consistently adhered to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, supported the peace and reconciliation process and refrained from involvement in its internal affairs in Afghanistan. It is for the world to decide who truly is rattling the sabre and waging proxy wars in the world and who truly is creating conflicts and undermining regional peace and stability.
According to our Afghan friends, China has never bullied Afghanistan and is one of trustworthy countries for Afghanistan, and at a time when the world is full of uncertainties and destabilizing factors, the rock-solid friendship with China has been a rare source of warmth for the Afghan people. These reflect China’s peaceful foreign policy and its commitment to deepening good-neighborly friendship with its neighbors. China will continue to work with Afghanistan to build a community of shared future and work together for common development and progress so that the Afghan people will enjoy peace, stability and development at an early date.
