'Reflection' needed on Afghan upheaval

Any actions taken by the United Nations in Afghanistan should help ease rather than intensify the conflicts, and ensure a smooth transition of the situation there, a Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday.

The situation in Afghanistan has undergone fundamental changes, and China has huge doubts about the necessity and urgency of adopting a resolution at this specific time as well as the balance of the content of the draft, said Wang Wenbin, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, during a regular news conference when asked about China's choice at a vote of the UN Security Council on Monday.

The 15-member council convened on Monday afternoon to vote on a draft resolution proposed by the United States, the United Kingdom and France. The resolution, which urged the Taliban to allow people to leave freely, passed with 13 votes in favor. China and Russia both abstained from the vote.

"The countries concerned hurriedly circulated the draft resolution on the evening of Aug 27, demanding action on the 30th," Wang said. "Nevertheless, China still participated constructively in the consultations, and together with Russia put forward important and reasonable amendments.

"Unfortunately, our amendments have not been fully adopted."

In explanation, Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said China has "huge doubts" about the necessity and urgency of adopting the resolution as well as the balance of its content.

"China has always opposed to imposing or forcefully pushing for resolution by any sponsors. Based on the above consideration, China has abstained from the draft resolution," he said.

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said he was forced to abstain on the draft resolution vote because its authors have ignored Russia's principled concerns. For one, the resolution did not mention the Islamic State and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in the paragraph on counterterrorism, he said.

Any attempts to "downplay threats emanating from those groups are unacceptable", he said.

Nebenzia also called out what he saw as "attempts to shift responsibility for the failure of the 20-year presence of the US and its Western allies in Afghanistan to the Taliban and to the states of the region that will have to deal with the effects of this prolonged campaign".

Meanwhile, Geng also said that the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan should lead to "reflection and correction".

"We hope that relevant countries will realize the fact that withdrawal is not the end of responsibility, but the beginning of reflection and correction," Geng said at an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Afghan situation on Monday.

Relevant countries should learn from the lessons, truly respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, as well as the rights of the Afghans to determine their own future, Geng said.

He expressed hope that relevant countries will change the "wrong practice of imposing their own wills on the others", "the hegemonic practices of imposing sanctions", and using force at every turn.

Probe urged

The envoy stressed that the actions taken by Western troops in the past 20 years, including "the criminal activities carried out by the US and Australian forces for the indiscriminate killing of civilians", must not be wiped out and must continue to be investigated.

The hasty withdrawal of foreign troops has likely provided opportunities for various terrorist organizations to make a comeback, he said.

China hopes that the security of the Kabul airport can be guaranteed, the evacuation of relevant personnel can proceed smoothly, and all parties concerned can strengthen coordination to jointly prevent a new terrorist attack, Geng said.

Afghanistan must never again become the birthplace for terrorism, or a distribution center for terrorists, which Geng called "the bottom line" that Afghanistan must adhere to in any future political settlements.

China hopes that the Taliban will fulfill their commitment and cut off ties with all terrorist organizations completely, Geng said.

Countries should follow the international laws and the Security Council resolutions to "resolutely crack down" on international terrorist forces such as the Islamic State, al-Qaida and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, so as to prevent them from gathering in Afghanistan to cause chaos, the ambassador said.

Geng stressed that there should not be a double standard on the issue of counterterrorism.