Beijing: Responding to the Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid’s statement on social media about establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, China reiterated that its position on the Afghan issue “is clear and consistent”.
“We hope Afghanistan can form an open, inclusive and broadly-based government, uphold moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies and respond to the shared aspiration of the Afghan people and the international community,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said today.
China also took this opportunity to have a dig at the USA, stating that the US could have worked with other countries to invest in clean water, sanitation, school buildings, clinics, agriculture and many other programs to lift the country from economic deprivation, and foster a more stable and prosperous Afghanistan. “America has long believed that overweening military strength was the primary factor in enabling it to get its way in the world. Since 1945, it has set up nearly 800 military bases in over 70 countries across the whole world. In every case of US military intervention overseas, though it enjoys great military advantage, it failed anyway. This is because what really matters is people’s approval, not military advantage,” Chunying said, stressing that the major changes in Afghanistan demosntrated that “democracy imposed and transplanted by others will not last or be firm”.
She further said: “To give you an analogy, cold milk is not fit for a Chinese stomach and chopsticks are not often used by Americans. A meal of hamburger or steak with fork and knife is not the only way to get one well fed. Democracy is not Coca-Cola, which, with the syrup produced by the United States, tastes the same across the world. Many Chinese prefer Beijing-based soda drink branded Arctic Ocean.”
Interestingly, she stated that facts had repeatedly shown that military intervention leads nowhere, and that the use of power and solving problems with power and military means would only lead to even more problems. “The copy of American democracy model can hardly fit or stand in a country with distinctively different history, culture and national conditions, which will end up in failure,” she said and referred to the Vietnam war in this context. “There was an anti-Vietnam War song in the 1970s in which the lyrics read ‘Let Saigons be bygones’. But regrettably, history is repeating itself in Kabul.”
Chunying quipped: “The Chinese people often say that a fall into the pit, a gain in the wit. The US has fallen into the pit for too many times. It is time for it to gain some wit. The US should deeply reflect on its wrong policy of belligerence and forsaking commitments, think seriously about its responsibilities for the world and stop undermining world peace and creating instability.”
Referring to a reported comment by the new Secretary of the US Air Force Frank Kendall that his goal was to field leap-ahead technologies that “scare China” such as upgrade program of the F-35 fighter jets that the US Air Force is developing, she suggested that he asked the Air Force of the People’s Liberation Army “whether they would agree to this”. She added: “I noticed that British scholar Martin Jacques recently said, the US enjoys massive military advantage in each case of Iraq, Afghanistan and so on. But in all circumstances, it failed in the end. The key to the victory of a war is to win over the people instead of military superiority. The US must have drawn many lessons in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.”
– global bihari bureau
