China's UN envoy warns of dire situation in Afghanistan

As the Afghan population is "experiencing a humanitarian crisis of the worst kind", China's ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday urged the international community to prioritize helping the war-torn country alleviate its humanitarian crisis and stabilize its economy.

"Unfortunately, without massive emergency action, it looks like we will lose" a race against time to help Afghan people, Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said at a Security Council briefing on the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

The hasty withdrawal of foreign troops last August caused the Afghan economy to go into freefall, said Zhang. The envoy pointed out that 95 percent of Afghan families are without enough food.

More than 1 million children are suffering from malnutrition, and 23 million people are suffering from severe famine. At that rate, by the middle of the year, 97 percent of the Afghan population will be impoverished and will not be able to afford to live on $2 a day, according to Zhang.

The council adopted Resolution 2615 last month, affirming that the humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan does not violate the council's sanction measures, clearing any legal obstacles that may exist.

"Unfortunately, there has been no fundamental change in the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan," he said.

Zhang emphasized that the key issue is not a legal obstacle, but a political one. "It's the politicization of the humanitarian issue. Humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip, a political tool and the leverage. This is playing games with the lives and well-being of 38 million Afghans, who are in dire need of relief. This is morally unacceptable and strategically short-sighted and dangerous," he said.

Zhang stressed that the more fundamental challenge facing Afghans and the international humanitarian agencies is that the economy has not yet returned to normal functioning.

Unilateral coercive measures have not only frozen more than $9 billion of Afghan assets abroad, but also severely hindered Afghanistan's access to international financing, leading to a liquidity crunch and stifling Afghanistan's potential to resume economic development on its own, he said.

"China welcomes the efforts of the World Bank and other international institutions to explore financing support for Afghanistan. But without a full injection of liquidity, the restoration and development of the domestic market and foreign trade, the efforts of international institutions will only be a drop in the bucket," he said.

Unilateral sanctions have the effect of freezing Afghanistan's financial assets and also the hopes of the Afghan people to survive, said Zhang.

"We all hope that Afghanistan will adhere to a broad and inclusive political orientation, implement moderate and prudent internal and external policies, effectively protect the rights and interests of ethnic minorities, women and children, resolutely combat terrorism and develop good neighborly cooperation," said Zhang.

"China's position in this regard is clear and has always been carrying out active work to this end. We need to increase engagement with the Afghan interim government in a rational and pragmatic manner, enhance mutual trust and exert positive influence," the ambassador said.

"At present, the international community should make it as its most important and urgent priority to help Afghanistan alleviate its humanitarian crisis and stabilize its economy," the ambassador underscored.

"It is essential to safeguard the rights of Afghan women and children, which also means providing them with much needed humanitarian help," he added.

The international community shares the goal of preventing Afghanistan from once again becoming a safe haven for terrorism, Zhang said. "China calls for a stronger sense of urgency from the international community and more humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan, so as to bring warmth and hope to the Afghan people," he said.

"Countries that have caused the current predicament in Afghanistan should more than others abandon the politicized approach and take urgent action to shoulder their primary responsibility," Zhang stressed.

"China has always made positive contributions to the peaceful development of Afghanistan," he said.