បញ្ហាអាហ្វហ្គានីស្ថានរបស់អាមេរិកបង្ហាញចិននូវអ្វីដែលមិនត្រូវធ្វើ

- Beijing must not get involved in the political process of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. As long as it’s sure Afghanistan has not become a safe haven for Uygur militants, Beijing should support the country’s development

Taliban fighters on a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 16. Photo: EPA-EFE

The abrupt withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan (“Taliban take control of Kabul as President Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan”, August 15), with the Taliban having a chokehold on Kabul that connects to the rest of the country, comes as Washington discernibly declines on the world stage.

On Sunday, the Taliban occupied Kabul and pulled a publicity stunt by entering the presidential palace, while Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled and left behind members of his administration, who were woefully fighting for the survival of a state collapsing under the weight of corruption, mismanagement and nepotism.

It feels counter-intuitive when US President Joe Biden says Afghans have to “fight for themselves, fight for their nation”, when the United States has become the main actor of instability in the Middle East since the September 11 attacks. The “war on terror” has been unfolding ever since, starting with the US’ impulsive invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq with the help of allied forces, including those of Britain, France, Canada and Australia.

Indeed, the West did make significant contributions to the development of Afghanistan in economic, social and military terms. Yet, it fell short of building a unified, cross-tribal, democratic and corruption-free nation-state, having spent trillions of dollars and burying thousands of servicemen and women over the past two decades.

Today, the rights of women and minorities are expected to be severely undermined by the extremist ideology of the Taliban; one should not conflate the teachings of Islam with the governance of the Taliban because the latter are a group of opportunists who are maximising their benefits in the name of Islam.

It would be disastrous if China decided to get involved in the political process of the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The only sensible way for China to move forward is to exact assurances from the Taliban that Afghan soil will not become a safe haven for Uygur militants, while in return, China would support the development of Afghanistan through bilateral deals involving infrastructure, education and state-to-state recognition.

The withdrawals of the Soviets in the 1980s and of the Americans in the 2020s speak volumes about Afghanistan’s notorious reputation as the “graveyard of empires”.

SCMP