US, NATO responsible for restoring Afghanistan security: Chinese envoy

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Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, relayed to Sputnik on Wednesday that the US and NATO should take up the responsibility of restoring and investing in the country they occupied for over 20 years - Afghanistan. 

During the meeting in Qatar which brought together 20 countries' special envoys for Afghanistan and Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, Yue said: "The United States and NATO, they have the 20 years occupation of Afghanistan and they should take the major responsibility of the reconstruction of the country".

Humanitarian challenges of Afghanistan were discussed among the participants alongside ways to bring back stability to the country. 

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Yue added: "So, many members, and participants today raised these questions. And also many participants raised that ... should be resolved as soon as possible. The unilateral sanctions and also the freezing of Afghanistan's [frozen] assets should be released". The diplomat urged that the West not neglect the issue anymore and stressed that the $7 billion of Afghan assets in the US be released.

In a surprising statement, Yue confirmed that China does not intend on recognizing the Taliban-ruled government of Afghanistan in the near future since it awaits the Taliban's confirmation of their vow to not attack other states through its territory.

This recalls when a Taliban delegation visited China in late July 2021, in a meeting with its foreign minister, Wang Yi, and vowed not to allow Afghan soil to be used as a base for strikes against China.

"For China, although the recognition issue cannot be solved soon, but that doesn’t mean we should not have active engagement with the interim government of Afghanistan because we believe this is an issue of humanitarian assistance," Yes stated, adding: "The country suffered for 20 years [under] foreign occupation. We believe this is an opportunity for this country for the first time to hold the fate of the country into their own hands. We should show our respect for this country, for their sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity". 

According to Yue, the Taliban government's recognition is a matter to be decided on by each individual country and not as a collective decision, emphasizing that China's priority at the moment is not recognizing it but providing assistance to the people in Afghanistan. 

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On his part, Guterres informed reporters that recognizing the Taliban was not on the agenda as it was not yet the "right time" to meet with its representatives.

Friendly contributions 

China and Afghanistan share a 76-kilometer common border. Because of the long shared border between the two countries, any sort of instability in Afghanistan will have an impact on China, particularly in the Xinjiang region in the northeast.

Beijing has been maintaining ties with the Taliban-led government after US forces withdrew from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has been struggling with poverty, demanding US President Joe Biden to unfreeze 7 billion dollars worth of Afghan assets, which his administration will be splitting among families of 9/11 victims. None of the 9/11 terrorists were Afghan.

In addition to contributing to the development of Afghanistan, China has aided the country with food, winter materials, COVID-19 vaccines, and medicines worth 200 million yuan.