China attempts to whitewash Taliban image, hits out at US for 'humiliating' Afghanistan

China and Pakistan are enhancing communication and coordination on Afghanistan issues as the two ‘important and strategic’ allies of Afghanistan under the newly planted Taliban regime, reports Global Times, a tabloid published by the official People’s Daily, adding that India has been unwilling to make a U-turn from its hostile standing against the Taliban. China has cozied up with the Talibani terrorists since the last time the hardline Islamist regime was in power in the 1990s. In 2000, the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Lu Shulin met with the then Taliban’s leader Mullah Omar in Kandahar, and Beijing’s ruling Communist Party struck several agreements for building infrastructure in Kabul such as hydropower projects and enhancing the telecommunications networks. 

In 2021, as the Taliban once again gained a stronghold across Afghanistan, overthrowing the now-ousted Ashraf Ghani’s democratic government, China’s regional leadership role in welcoming the Taliban fundamentalist rule has triggered widespread criticism.

On Thursday, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) People's Daily glorified the newly emboldened Islamic fundamentalist regime on its border embracing the terror faction that it said will “respect choices of Afghan citizens,” despite that the Taliban continues its efforts of retribution against Afghan loyalists to the US Army in nerve-wracking door-to-door searches. 

But the Chinese state media on Thursday scorned Washington’s deception and unreliability towards its regional allies and partners as it vouched for support to Taliban-led government in Kabul, that is known to fund the Islamic Jihadist movements and terror outfits such as al-Qaeda and ISIS providing Afghanistan as a ‘safe haven' where it exercises stronghold.  As the Chinese run newspaper vaguely labelled the Taliban as “people’s [Afghanistan civilians’] choice,” its claims drew strong condemnation on Chinese social media platform Weibo. 

Just days ago, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying appeared to whitewash the rustic and violent image of the catastrophic Taliban that has often paraded mutilated bodies of Afghan nationals, registering dissent through the crowded streets after beheading. But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson termed the Taliban as “more clear-headed and rational” than they were during their rule in Afghanistan some 20 years ago.

As China celebrated the Taliban’s stunning victory focussing on improving relations with what it described ‘a new Taliban,’ the hardliners, in a medieval and barbaric act, paraded two Afghan men with faces tarred black, and a noose around their necks being pulled through the street after the Friday prayers inside Herat city. In such acts, described as sickening by the on-ground correspondents, the uncompromising Taliban inspires radical militants worldwide. 

Taliban parades two men after blackening their face in Herat city after the Friday prayers.

Credit: Twitter/@bsarwary

“Some people stress their distrust for the Afghan Taliban. We want to say that nothing is unchanged forever. We need to see the past and present. We need to listen to words and watch actions,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a presser, referring to the Taliban.

Taliban has 'support from the poor..,' claims China 

China's People’s Daily hailed the Taliban, posting a 60-second video that described the Taliban as formed during Afghanistan’s civil war by “students in refugee camps” and bolstered with “support from the poor.” The footage went on to celebrate the fact that the Taliban has been “in a war with the US for 20 years since the September 11 attacks” that killed innocent lives, without mentioning the term ‘terrorism’. China slammed Washington for humiliating and backing out of the conflict-ridden region while it also simultaneously demeaned the US’ 20-years of efforts to reshape Afghanistan calling it a “total failure”. 

A Taliban terrorist stands guard over surrendered Afghan security member forces in the city of Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan. Image: AP

“The US’s desperate withdrawal plan shows the unreliability of US commitments to its allies: when its interests require it to abandon allies, Washington will not hesitate to find every excuse to do so,” nationalist tabloid Global Times reported.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told state press reporters that both China and Pakistan will coordinate to support a stable transition in Afghanistan for the Taliban government to set up. Wang further stated that the so-called democratic transformation in Afghanistan is “unrealistic,” will bring “hurtful consequences” and that Afghanistan must learn lessons that are “worth remembering and learning.”