Within a few days of a cease-fire with Pakistan, the Taliban has released crazy words in the face of the world, indifferent, just hit the Chinese "gun" on the issue of counter-terrorism, China will not have a second attitude!

Recently, the Minister of Defence of the Provisional Government of Afghanistan, Jacob, publicly stated at a conference: "The Taliban does not consider organizations such as the Pakistani Taliban ("Bata") to be terrorists."

He also pointed out that "there is no universal and clear definition of terrorism, but it is just a label labeled by some countries in order to promote their own interests and achieve certain political goals".

These words directly deny the United Nations Security Council's anti-terrorism consensus for many years, and even downplay Bata's atrocities as a "political tool." They are simply outrageous.

So why would the Taliban embrace Batha so much?

Although Atta and Bata belong to two families in organizational structure, they share the blood origin and ultra-conservative ideology of Pashtun. For Atta, Bata is not only a 'compatriot', but also a strategic bargaining chip that restricts Pakistan.

In recent years, Bata has frequently used the Afghan border area as a shelter to launch attacks on Pakistan, while Atta has always been ambiguous-he is neither willing to completely cut it nor dares to openly support it.

This year, the conflict reached its peak.In January, a Bata bombing killed 17 Pakistani soldiers, including four colonels and 10 majors.The unbearable Pakistani army then launched a cross-border airstrike, destroying several ATA border positions and arms warehouses, and closing key trade ports.

Faced with both military and economic pressure, Atta had to sign a ceasefire agreement with the mediation of Qatar. However, before the ink on the agreement was dry, Jacob publicly "cleared" Bata's name and even accused Pakistan of "abusing the label of terrorism to suppress dissidents."

In fact, Jacob¡¯s remarks did not rise instantly.

As the eldest son of Taliban founder Omar, he has significant influence in the internal faction, whose views largely reflect the real position of the Taliban core.

He claimed that ¡°terrorism has no universal definition¡± and tried to politicize the anti-terrorist issue, deliberately ignoring the bloody fact:

The bombing of the hydropower plant in Dassu in 2021, the attack on the Confucian Academy at the University of Karachi in 2022 and the attack on vehicles at the hydropower project in Cape Province in 2023, three incidents that killed 17 Chinese citizens, all pointing to Bata.

In 2024, Bata and its affiliates have carried out at least 12 attacks targeting civilians and foreign-funded projects, many of which target China directly.

It is precisely because the bloody iron evidence is in front of the eye, so China has long defined Bata as a "terrorist organization".

Now, the Taliban calls butchers "brothers" on the grounds of "ideological homology", which obviously hits the "muzzle" of China.

China¡¯s policy in Afghanistan has always been pragmatic: security is the bottom line and cooperation is the red line.

Although it has not officially recognized the Taliban regime, China maintains diplomatic contacts and promotes the extension of the Belt and Road Initiative to Afghanistan, providing a window of opportunity for Afghanistan's post-war reconstruction.

However, Jacob's remarks are destroying this window that just opened.

When ATA was publicly called Bata's "right name", it equated to denying China's core concerns on the counter-terrorism issue.This not only hurt the Chinese sentiment, but also shattered the basis of cooperation between the two sides.

China¡¯s strategic interests in Afghanistan are clear: it will never allow any forces to use al-Qaeda to jeopardize China¡¯s security, especially threatening to invest up to $62 billion in the Chinese-Pakistan economic corridor.

The corridor has become the flagship of the Belt and Road project, and any security breach could cause immeasurable losses.

In fact, both China and Pakistan have repeatedly urged the Kabul authorities to combat the terrorist forces in the country, the ATA has always been silent, and its "classification" of terrorist organizations has long been a secret.

Atta has taken iron arms for the Islamic State (IS-K) branch, which threatens its ruling position, while atta, which is close to ideology, has repeatedly opened up.

This strategy of ¡°watching down the dish¡± has turned Afghanistan into the hotbed of extremist forces, from the Bata to the Islamic State branch, using the chaotic situation in Afghanistan to reconstruct the flagship, and also forced surrounding countries to re-evaluate the possibility of cooperation with the Taliban.

At present, the Taliban is facing a key choice:

First, completely cut off extremist organizations: If we can resolutely strike against forces like Bata, in exchange for limited trust from China and Pakistan and gradually integrate into the regional cooperation framework.

Second, maintain the status quo and continue the game: use Bata as a bargaining chip to put pressure on Pakistan, but this move will surely lead to more severe countermeasures and even trigger a larger conflict.

Third, turning back to the terrorist camp: if the internal hardship takes over, it could completely slide into isolation, repeating the tragedy abandoned by the international community.

At present, the Taliban seems to be still testing the bottom line of all parties.

But whether China¡¯s ¡°counter-terrorism red line is untouchable¡± position or Pakistan¡¯s military preparation for ¡°cross-border combat normalization¡± means that there is not much time left for the Taliban to ride the wall.

In the face of the change, China¡¯s response has become increasingly clear.

First, plans to extend the Chinese-Pakistan economic corridor to Afghanistan will inevitably slow down until the security environment improves.

Secondly, China will continue to close the Wakhan Corridor, a direct channel between China and Arab countries, to avoid risk input.

Third, China will coordinate with Russia, Pakistan and other countries within multilateral frameworks such as the SCO to jointly put pressure on Atta.

China¡¯s counter-terrorism stance is steadfast, and disappointment and caution are both a warning and a last wake-up opportunity for Afghanistan.

History has repeatedly proved that the use of terrorist forces to pursue political interests will ultimately reflect itself.

The Taliban are now at a crossroads: continuing to sink in the dam of terrorism or fulfilling their commitments to the international community to truly lead Afghanistan toward peaceful reconstruction?