Envoy: Afghanistan 'fiasco' failure of power politics, intervention

A Chinese ambassador to the United Nations on Monday reiterated that the war in Afghanistan shows that power politics is not the right approach and called on the international community to support Afghanistan in developing international economic and trade cooperation.

"The fiasco of the past 20 years has once again proved that military intervention and power politics are not the right way; foreign models and democratic transformation cannot win the hearts and minds of the people," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, told a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.

"The tragedy in Afghanistan should never be allowed to repeat," he said.

China has always stressed that the withdrawal of foreign troops is not the end of responsibility, but rather the beginning of reflection and correction. The countries concerned should have seriously reflected on their mistakes and corrected them in a timely manner, "instead of walking away with a shrug of shoulders", said Zhang.

Rather than fulfilling their due responsibilities, relevant countries have cut off development aid, frozen Afghan assets and imposed political isolation and blockade, he said.

"This is not only just evading responsibility and abandoning the Afghan people, but also perpetuating the mistakes and exacerbating the sufferings of the Afghan people. What is more perplexing is that we do not see any reflection in humility or mistake correction with sincerity. On the contrary, what we hear is malicious accusations against and attack on others," he said.

"We expect the Afghan interim government to pursue sound and inclusive domestic and foreign policies, actively safeguard and improve people's livelihood, resolutely combat terrorism, and live in harmony with all countries, including its neighbors," said Zhang.

He called on the international community to support Afghanistan in advancing its peaceful reconciliation, restoring public services and market activities, and engaging in regional and international economic and trade cooperation.

The international community should also enhance its engagement with the Afghan interim government in a rational and pragmatic manner, Zhang added.

Zhang said that the humanitarian situation in the country is grave, and the survival and development of tens of millions of people, including women and girls is concerning.

"It is ethically hypothetical and practically lethal to claim to care about the rights of Afghan women and girls, while slashing humanitarian and development aid to the country and stubbornly maintaining unilateral sanctions against the country," he said.

Zhang said that the humanitarian and economic predicament faced by the country is a result of the lack of liquidity and economic stagnation caused by foreign sanctions.

"Afghanistan's overseas assets belong to the Afghan people, and freezing these assets is tantamount to depriving them of their lifesaving money," Zhang said.

Zhang said that more than 70 renowned scholars published an open letter earlier this month, calling on the United States to immediately return the frozen assets in full, pointing out that splitting the frozen $7 billion is arbitrary and unjustified.

"Once again, we urge the United States to return these assets to Afghanistan in full without delay and conditions," he said.

The letter, also addressed to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, was signed by 71 economists and academic experts, many based in the US as well as in Germany, India and the UK. Among them were former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis and Joseph Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor of finance and economics who received the Nobel Prize in economics in 2001.

As the largest neighbor of Afghanistan, "China has always firmly supported its peace, stability and development, and we have been making huge efforts in this regard," said Zhang.

China will actively expand economic and trade cooperation with Afghanistan and promote the country's integration into regional cooperation, the ambassador said.

China has always delivered on its promise of assistance, he said.

"We urge the international community, especially the countries responsible for the war, to take concrete actions to continue helping the Afghan people, not to abandon them or punish them. Afghanistan needs the help of the international community, and the world also needs a peaceful and stable Afghanistan," he said.