China hosts the conference on shelved Afghanistan and implements its diplomatic and economic influence in Central Asia

(To Antonino Lombardi)
05/04/22

The third conference of the neighboring countries of Afghanistan (China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turmenistan, Uzbekistan) ended on March 31, in Tunxi (China) where a joint plan to promote the stability of the country was discussed. and to assist the battered people.

China, through its president, noted that peace and stability in Afghanistan are aspirations of the Afghan people but also of the international community, underlining how his country, a member of the UN Security Council and friend of Afghanistan (even if it does not officially recognize the Taliban government), respects the sovereignty of the neighboring state and is committed to achieving stability and development in that land.

On March 24, the Chinese foreign minister met with members of the Taliban government following the announcement of the latter of the impossibility for Afghan girls to attend school beyond sixth grade. There has been talk of economic and political cooperation. It is known that China has economic and mining interests in Afghanistan and it seems that the Taliban would like to woo Beijing by preserving the Buddhas in the Mes Aynak valley damaged more than twenty years ago by extremist Taliban, describing them as pagan symbols to be eliminated. Not far away is the largest copper deposit in the world and Kabul trusts in China (which does not drop bombs but constantly weaves an effective diplomatic web to achieve its economic and financial goals) to reactivate the mine and increase financial revenues.

We recall that on July 28 the Taliban were received in Beijing by Minister Wang Yi (photo) who had guaranteed support for their government in the reconstruction of Afghanistan but had asked them to break off ties with theEast Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) by not allowing anti-Chinese groups to operate under their government. In fact, China has conducted a harsh campaign of repression against Muslim minorities and in particular against the Uyghurs (Muslim and Turkish-speaking ethnicity living in Xinjiang) whose militants have found refuge in Afghanistan.

However, in that mistreated land, the institutional political structure that was created after August 15, 2021, does not seem to have improved the living conditions of the people. On March 23, the executive issued a ban on girls returning to school after sixth grade. Other bans established were those of prohibiting airlines from taking women on board unaccompanied by a male family member, from using cell phones in universities, and from preventing men and women from going to parks at the same time.

The Taliban are striving to appear as an open interim government but have yet to establish government structures that ensure the country's ethnic and political diversity and women are represented in the conduct of the country's public affairs. Probably the best way to promote stability and future international support is for the Taliban to avoid the isolation that characterized their previous experience in power.

In light of recent political, security and social developments, it is clear that Afghanistan faces several issues including a growing humanitarian emergency, a profound economic crisis, the blockade of financial systems and the formation of an inclusive government having, the current government, formed an all-male institutional apparatus. Women's rights and freedoms have been severely contracted

More than 24 million people are expected to need humanitarian assistance in 2022, up from 18,4 million in 2021. Despite assurances from the authorities de facto of general amnesties for former members of the Afghan government and security forces, as well as for those who have worked with international military forces, UNAMA has received credible allegations of killings, enforced disappearances and other violations affecting the right to life and integrity physics of such individuals.

Numerous meetings took place after August 15 between the Taliban and foreign political authorities in all the talks the Taliban were urged to form a government that would take into consideration women and the many minorities present in the country, combat terrorism and drug trafficking and address the refugee situation. We remember the conference (remotely) of 9 September (chaired by Pakistan) and 27 October (in Iran) between the foreign ministers of the six neighboring countries; On 21 September, the special envoy from China and the special representatives of Pakistan and the Russian Federation also met with the former president of Afghanistan (Hamid Karzai). On 12 September, the humanitarian situation and the functioning of the airport in Kabul were discussed with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar.

UNAMA sources reveal that, despite announcements of general amnesties for former government members, killings, enforced disappearances and other violations involving such individuals continued among the security forces and those who worked with the international military 100). Human rights activists and journalists (two killed and two wounded) also continued to be subjected to attacks, intimidation, harassment, arbitrary arrest, mistreatment and killings. The press and the media, tools that every regime controls and censors, have been subject to restrictions on content imposed by the authorities de facto and, therefore, forced to suspend their activities for financial trouble. In September, some Afghan journalists launched an appeal to ask for guarantees of protection and to allow the media to continue to do their work.

The fighting has certainly decreased after August 15 but hundreds are the people who die from improvised devices, remnants of war and suicide attacks (about 299 deaths). From 15 August to 31 December 2021, UNAMA documented more than 1.050 injuries, including more than 350 civilian casualties.

The exhausted economy and exasperated families facilitate the exploitation and abuse of minors, child marriages, child trafficking, child labor and the recruitment of minors into militias.

In the same period, the covid-19 pandemic and drought (the second in four years and the worst in twenty-seven years) did not spare the country. Food insecurity and malnutrition (nearly half of children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition) is one of the worst in the world. According to the Ministry of Public Health, nearly 13.700 newborns and 26 mothers died this year from malnutrition. Almost half of the population in 2021 was in need of humanitarian aid and the various donors have channeled around one and a half billion dollars. Drinking water, sanitation facilities and assistance for the cultivation of cereals were provided.

In Afghanistan it is not only covid-19 that is claiming victims but also polio and contamination deriving from remnants of war and improvised explosive devices.

The sector of the local economy whose total value, according to the UN, is between 9% and 14% of the gross domestic product is that of drugs (opiates to be precise). According to the November 2021 research report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was estimated at 177.000 hectares. Continued uncertainty since August 2021 has pushed opium prices up, increasing incentives to grow and raising concern over increased drug trafficking.

At the end of the conference, the participating countries signed a joint declaration in which they undertake to support Afghanistan while respecting "Independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity, to independently determine the future and destiny of the country", while urging the government to concretely fulfill the economic reconstruction of the state.

In short, Afghanistan is obviously a country in serious economic and humanitarian difficulty and it is equally clear that without external cooperation it will be difficult to get up again. It would be desirable for all the parties involved to collaborate in order to promote effective and inclusive governance, also aiming at reconciliation, thus helping to consolidate the protection of human rights. Secondly, it is essential to provide basic services to the population in such a way as to create the conditions for achieving self-sufficiency.

We will see in 2023, in the next conference to be held in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), what projects will be implemented and the progress achieved in the difficult Afghan challenge.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China / Xinhua