Bata has always been an internationally recognized terrorist organization. However, recently, the Afghan Taliban blurted out a sentence in front of the whole world, which stunned the whole world, especially the Chinese side.
A few days ago, Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Yakub Mujahid said, They do not consider armed groups such as the Taliban Movement of Pakistan (TTP) to be terrorists.
Mujahid said that for a long time, Pakistan and other countries have used the label "terrorism" to target their opponents for political purposes. “There is no universal or explicit definition of terrorism, and any government can label its opponent as a terrorist in order to promote its own interests.”
These remarks of Taliban officials not only mean that they refuse to recognize the threat of TTP, It also attempts to "wash" TTP in the international public opinion scene.
To know, TTP and ATA are very similar in religious ideology, organizational structure, and historical origins, and many TTP armed heads have been trained in Afghanistan at the time. For ATA, they are “brothers”, not “enemies”.
In recent years, TTP has frequently handled Chinese projects and Chinese employees.。In July 2021, commuter vehicles at the Dasu Hydropower Station site were blown up on their way to the construction site, killing 13 people, 9 of whom were China engineers and more than 20 others were injured;
In 2022, the shuttle bus of the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi in Pakistan was attacked by a suicide bombing on the campus, killing four people, three of whom were China teachers;
In March last year, a new terrorist attack on a vehicle built by a Chinese enterprise in the province of Cape was carried out, killing five Chinese employees and one Pakistani.
These incidents, no one of them, bothered the Chinese side. and behind the scenes all pointed directly to Bata (TTP). Today, Atta Defense Minister said in the face of the global media "do not think they are terrorists." , this is not only a slap in the face to the Pakistan government, but also an open denial of China's anti-terrorism policy.
Since the Taliban came to power, China has repeatedly urged the Taliban interim regime to intensify its strikes on terrorist groups in Afghanistan, and the Taliban side has made no hesitation to promise, but the actual action is to grind, and until now, Afghanistan is still the "hot bed" and "old nest" of terrorist organization operations.
China’s basic strategy for Afghanistan is “two lines”: the first line is the security bottom line and does not allow any forces to use Afghan territory to carry out terrorist attacks on China and the Chinese-Pakistan economic corridor; the second line is the cooperation red line. Atta must earnestly ensure the safety of Chinese projects and personnel, otherwise any economic cooperation will be forced to suspend.
In recent years, China hasined diplomatic contacts despite the fact that it has not officially recognized the ATA government; the frequent visits of the Chinese special envoys to Kabul have actively promoted the extension of the Belt and Road programme to Afghanistan, which has been an opportunity for both sides to build mutual trust. But now, these remarks by Defense Minister Ata are tantamount to openly tearing the most important layer of trust between China and Afghanistan in front of the whole world.
From China’s perspective, this is not just a “disagreement” but a “denial” of China’s counter-terrorism efforts.As early as the anti-terrorism document submitted by the UN Security Council, China clearly pointed out the threat of TTP to Chinese citizens. Now Atta says that "terrorism is not clearly defined". Doesn't it turn China's victimization experience into a "political act"? Can China not be disappointed?
In retrospect, the Afghan Defense Minister's phrase "terrorism has no clear definition", in his eyes is only a political statement, but in both countries, it is an indifference to the real victims, the escape to international responsibility. China must re-evaluate the risks of cooperation with the ATA government.
China has always hoped that Afghanistan will truly embark on the path of peace, reconstruction and international cooperation, but this path cannot be achieved by vague definitions and confusing positions. What's more, all cooperation between China and Afghanistan is based on stability and security.
As an old saying says: Friends can have disagreements, but can’t play fire on the bottom line.。If the Taliban are still stubborn about how to deal with Bata, then cooperation between China and Afghanistan may have to be reconsidered.