China disappointed
Khan Jan Alokozhe, vice-president of Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce, has said that not a single penny has yet been received for investment from China. He told that many companies came and met and researched but since then they have disappeared. He said it was really disappointing. On the other hand, China says that the Taliban side has not taken necessary action against terrorist organizations that are in contact with separatists present in western Xinjiang.
What is China’s demand
If sources in the Chinese government are to be believed, the Taliban wants to re-negotiate with China on the projects related to the resources present in Afghanistan. It has been said many times on behalf of the Taliban that it will not allow any terrorist organization to operate from Afghan soil. China has said many times that the Taliban should act on the East Turkey Islamic Movement (ETIM). China considers it a Muslim separatist organization that is trying to establish an Islamic state in Xinjiang. Both China and Afghanistan share a 76-km-long border in the Xinjiang region.
Taliban denies claim
It has been reiterated many times by the Taliban that ETIM is not operating from Afghanistan. Also, terrorist conspiracies will not be allowed against any country from the soil of Afghanistan. Senior Taliban leader Suhail Shaheen said this in Doha. But a United Nations report in May this year quoted several countries as saying that the ETIM is present in Afghanistan. Support for any organization in Xinjiang, China does not like.
stuck on resources
America and other countries have often accused China of atrocities on Uighur Muslims in the region. Whereas China always turns away from the matter of human rights abuses here and calls it its domestic issue. The minerals present in Afghanistan are many centuries old. After the departure of America, China had indicated that it would keep acquiring these resources. Some joint ventures were also announced. But now new projects are stuck. All the countries of the world stopped aid to Afghanistan because of the Taliban, China was the only country that had promised financial help to the new regime.
Taliban demand unheeded
According to People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military strategist and former Colonel Zhou Bo, China is ready to fill the gap left by the US. He wrote in the New York Times that Afghanistan’s minerals are no less than a treasure and that relations with the Taliban are going to be the main advantage. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Wai has met with Taliban representatives several times.
He had gone to Kabul in March this year and it was considered an extraordinary step. It was here that he met Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaki. Wang praised the country’s leaders and pointed to Afghanistan’s participation in the Belt and Road programme. So far, China has not paid any attention to the demand made by the Taliban for resources.