Islamabad 12 August : The massive insecurity of Afghanistan from the moment the Taliban have taken over the capital city of the country in the year 2000 has given China an opportunity to be an important participant in the nation, media reported.Beijing has joined with the world community in calling on Kabul’s new rulers to make changes that include the creation of an inclusive government with representation of the diversity of Afghan races and respecting women’s rights in particular in the areas of the education system and working conditions, VOA reported.
However, China has also offered the Taliban regime development and economic assistance in exchange for their attention to Chinese security concerns, particularly in restricting any Uyghur militant groups in Afghanistan from pursuing Chinese interests, specifically Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in the region, VOA reported.
Prior to the fall of the Ashraf Ghani-led administration, Beijing had a strong partnership with Kabul as well as Afghan security forces assisted in monitoring and hunt down Uyghur militant groups on China’s behalf.
However, since the Taliban’s re-election in August of last year, Beijing has begun to engage with the new regime since it doesn’t wish for terrorism to spill over into Afghanistan across China or to harm China’s concerns in the region.
As no nation has yet recognized the Taliban as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan and the billions of dollars in aid that supported the government of the past have disappeared and billions in state assets are frozen and sanctions on the economy have resulted in the near-to-collapse of the economy of Afghanistan.
In this scenario the Taliban administration is constantly suing Chinese financial and investment support, VOA reported.
More than seeking to play a part in the post-US Afghanistan, Beijing is worried about the possibility of attacks being planned by militant groups, such as the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) which is which is a Uyghur militant organization that Beijing blames for the unrest in the western part of its province of Xinjiang and is referred to as by its former name the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).
The TIP seeks to free Xinjiang as well as the Uyghur people from Chinese government control.It also carries out attacks against Chinese interests.
The Taliban have also been consistent in their message about not to allow Afghanistan to be a sanctuary for terrorist groups from around the world seeking to launch attacks on states in the region, and especially China.
Recently, Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi during the conference in Tashkent provided assurances that “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will not permit any of its members or any other person or group, which includes Al-Qaeda to threaten the security of others on the soil of Afghanistan.”
Ghani’s administration was for a long time getting blamed of hosting members of Islamist militant groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as well as Baloch ethno-separatist groupsthat have a vested interest in BRI-linked development projects, as well as Chinese residents in Pakistan.Islamabad and Beijing had hoped that the threats from Baloch rebels would ease when the Taliban assumed the control of Afghanistan.
In the aftermath of the Gwadar attack in the aftermath, the Taliban were able to detain and expel an extensive number of families of separatists from Nangarhar and Nimroz provinces that border them according to Baloch separatist groups, VOA reported.
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