China calls on Pakistan, Afghanistan to help fight terror, protect Chinese interests in first 3-way talks since 2021

Call comes as foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet for first time since Taliban took power in Kabul in August 2021
A key point on the agenda is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship belt and road project that Beijing wants to extend into Afghanistan

Belt and Road Initiative

Frank Tangin Beijing

Published: 8:15pm, 7 May 2023

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China has called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to help fight terror and protect Chinese interests, as the three neighbours resumed a strategic dialogue mechanism suspended since the Taliban took power in Kabul nearly two years ago.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the three nations should oppose all forms of terrorist activity or “double-standards” in recognising such acts, as well as strengthen counterterrorism and security cooperation.

“[China hopes] that Afghanistan and Pakistan will enhance the protection of Chinese nationals, institutions and projects,” state news agency Xinhua quoted Qin as saying during his meeting with counterparts in Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Qin’s talks on Saturday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the acting foreign minister of the Afghan interim government, Amir Khan Muttaqi, was the fifth trilateral foreign ministers’ dialogue since the mechanism was set up in 2017.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses delegates during the trilateral meeting in Islamabad. Photo: AFP

The dialogue, which aimed to tackle the terrorist threats to China’s domestic and overseas projects as Beijing pushed hard for its Belt and Road Initiative, was disrupted after the US-backed government in Kabul was toppled by the Taliban militant group in August 2021.

Qin said China was ready to enhance strategic communication and policy coordination to enhance mutual trust with both neighbours, while deepening economic ties with them.

He also expressed Beijing’s willingness to jointly implement its global development, global security and global civilisation initiatives, according to Xinhua.

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The initiatives, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, outline China’s ambitions of taking on a bigger role in global issues. In recent months, China has helped to broker the resumption of Saudi-Iran diplomatic ties in March, released a peace proposal on Ukraine, and offered to facilitate peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

In an April 26 phone call with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, Xi also promised to send a special envoy to Kyiv to help find a political solution to the war with Russia.

China is among the few major powers to have reached out to Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled interim government, even though it has not officially acknowledged it. The focus has been on trade ties and anti-terror work, with China keen to promote stability as spillover terrorism is a top concern amid a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Beijing is also an “all-weather strategic cooperative partner” to debt-ridden Pakistan.

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The three sides held “candid and deep” exchanges in Islamabad, and reached consensus on a variety of issues, an official Chinese readout said, without spelling out what those were.

A key point on the agenda is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship belt and road project that Beijing wants to extend into Afghanistan, in line with its pledge to help it transform from a landlocked country to a “land-linked” one.

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China has invested heavily in infrastructure and industrial projects along the CPEC, and its extension to Afghanistan is expected to boost trilateral connectivity and cross-border trade.

However, Chinese nationals and infrastructure have often been the target of terror attacks in both countries.

In a separate meeting with Muttaqi in Islamabad, Qin urged Afghanistan to crack down on terrorist forces, including “the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM)” and ensure the safety of Chinese people and institutions in the country.

Beijing earlier sought assurances that the Taliban would cut ties with terrorist groups, including ETIM, a militant Uygur group China blames for a spate of violent attacks in its far western Xinjiang region.

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Qin pledged to continue Chinese efforts to help Afghanistan boost its counterterror capability, while Muttaqi reiterated Kabul’s promise not to allow any anti-China activities on Afghan soil, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.

Qin, who was on a two-day visit to Islamabad, also met separately with Bhutto Zardari, and strongly urged Pakistan to better guarantee the safety of Chinese nationals and projects along the CPEC amid lingering security threats.

Chinese interests in Pakistan have seen a string of deadly militant attacks in recent years. These included one in Karachi in April last year, when three Chinese teachers were killed in a suicide bomb attack near a Chinese learning centre.

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Qin also rejected the accusation that China was creating a debt trap in Pakistan, calling it a lie.

“Some forces have fabricated the lie that China is creating a debt trap in Pakistan. I suggest our media friends ask those people what they have done for Pakistan’s development and what real money they have invested in the country,” Xinhua quoted Qin as saying at a joint press meeting following his meeting with Bhutto Zardari.

“I believe the people of Pakistan don’t need high-sounding rhetoric, but real help.”

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According to a readout from the Pakistani foreign ministry, China and Pakistan jointly called for continued international assistance to Afghanistan and the unfreezing of its overseas financial assets.

The United States froze nearly US$7 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank after Kabul fell to the Taliban, to cut off the sanctioned militant group’s access to the money.

“Both sides called on all stakeholders to work together for a peaceful, stable, prosperous and united Afghanistan, which would firmly combat terrorism and live in harmony with its neighbours,” the readout said.

“The two sides agreed to continue their humanitarian and economic assistance for the Afghan people and enhance development cooperation in Afghanistan, including through extension of the CPEC to Afghanistan.”