Beijing/Moscow/Washington: Beijing and Moscow have teamed up to criticise Washington’s decision to freeze assets of Central Bank of Afghanistan in the United States.
China today compared the US action with the “conduct of bandits”. Earlier Russia had said the US decision raises the question of the sincerity of the White House’s statements of its desire to help stabilize the situation in Afghanistan.
In Beijing today, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, “Without the consent of the Afghan people, the US willfully disposes of assets that belong to the Afghan people, even keeping them as its own. This is no different from the conduct of bandits. This latest example has once again laid bare that the “rules-based order” the US claims to champion is not the kind of rules and order to defend the weak and uphold justice, but to maintain its own hegemony.”
Wenbin added: “As the culprit of the Afghan crisis, the US should not exacerbate the suffering of the Afghan people. It should unfreeze their assets, lift unilateral sanctions on Afghanistan as soon as possible, and assume its due responsibility to ease the humanitarian crisis in the country.”
Earlier, in a statement released in Moscow, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Maria Zakharova, accused Washington of “practically plaguing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and fixing obstacles to new authorities in Kabul, trying to get a normal life”.
It may be mentioned that on February 11, 2022, the United States Secretary of State, Antony J Blinken had announced the Executive Order to preserve certain Afghanistan Central Bank assets for the “benefit of the people of Afghanistan”.
The US claimed that President Joe Biden signed the Executive Order as part of an effort to set aside $3.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets for the benefit of the Afghan people, in response to the worsening humanitarian and economic crisis in AfghanisZakharovatan.
“The people of Afghanistan face enormous challenges: an economic crisis born of decades of dependence on international aid, severe drought, COVID-19, and endemic corruption,” Blinken stated and added: “We also recognize that victims of terrorism, including of the September 11 terrorist attacks, have brought claims against the Taliban and are pursuing the central bank’s remaining assets in federal court. This Administration will continue to support these victims and their families, recognizing the enduring pain they have suffered at the hands of terrorists, including those who operated from Afghanistan prior to the September 11 attacks. These victims and their families should have a full opportunity to set forth their arguments in court.”
The USA claimed that Afghanistan’s economic challenges were exacerbated when the Taliban decided to take the country by force rather than through a negotiated settlement. “But America’s ties to the people of Afghanistan, built during two decades of working side-by-side, are steadfast and enduring,” Blinked stated.
China however made it clear that Afghanistan’s assets overseas belonged to the Afghan people and should be returned to Afghanistan for the benefit of the Afghan people. “The US is now trying to allocate the assets and even claim them as its own. This once again exposes the US’ true face of seeking hegemony by using its power under the disguise of the so-called rules-based international order,” Wenbin stated. Describing the US as the culprit of the Afghan crisis, China also urged the US to make a “deep reflection, earnestly assume its due international obligations, free up Afghanistan’s frozen assets and lift unilateral sanctions on the country”.
“It should take concrete actions to make up for the harm done to the Afghan people and avoid making things worse for the Afghan people,” Wenbin had earlier stated on February 14, 2022.
Zakharova said in Moscow that the statement of the US administration that it reserves the right to decide on issuing $ 3.5 billion in aid to Afghans of the money they own, was “a mockery of common sense”.
She said Moscow considered Washington’s decision to reserve more than half of the frozen assets of the Afghan Central Bank to pay compensation at the request of relatives of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attack.
“Why should the Afghan people, who in no way participated in the organization of these terrorist attacks, now pay for them?” she asked. She added: “In the face of an extremely complex humanitarian situation, including the result of a failed US military campaign and its NATO allies, Washington is practically plaguing the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and fixing obstacles to new authorities in Kabul, trying to get a normal life.”
– global bihari bureau
