China Strengthens Ties With Taleban by Signing Economic Deal
September 13, 2001 3:11 PM Subscribe
This could be awful.
Doesn't it seem like China has been itching for a fight recently? Does anyone else see this ending very, very badly?
posted by TiggleTaggleTiger at 3:31 PM on September 13, 2001
Doesn't it seem like China has been itching for a fight recently? Does anyone else see this ending very, very badly?
posted by TiggleTaggleTiger at 3:31 PM on September 13, 2001
How is this possible? Is this planet so inhumane?
posted by crasspastor at 3:34 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by crasspastor at 3:34 PM on September 13, 2001
I can't get to the article right now, but there's a big difference between an economic agreement with a country and agreeing to defend it if it is attacked.
I don't think even China would dare oppose the US, NATO, and essentially the entire civilized world if an attack on Afghanistan becomes necessary.
As to how it could happen, it would almost have to have been in the works for some time.
posted by kindall at 3:36 PM on September 13, 2001
I don't think even China would dare oppose the US, NATO, and essentially the entire civilized world if an attack on Afghanistan becomes necessary.
As to how it could happen, it would almost have to have been in the works for some time.
posted by kindall at 3:36 PM on September 13, 2001
China Strengthens Ties With Taleban by Signing Economic Deal
Thursday, September 13, 2001
http://www.iht.com/articles/32342.html
BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take." BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take." BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take." BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take." BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take."
posted by danec at 3:39 PM on September 13, 2001
Thursday, September 13, 2001
http://www.iht.com/articles/32342.html
BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take." BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take." BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take." BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take." BEIJING In a sign of Beijing's increasingly close ties with the Taleban regime in Afghanistan, China has signed a memorandum of understanding for economic and technical cooperation with Kabul, press reports from Afghanistan and Pakistan said.
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A Chinese delegation signed the deal in Kabul with the Taleban's minister of mining, Mullah Mohammed Ishaq, the news reports said.
China's agreement with the Taleban is the most substantial part of a series of contacts that Beijing has had with Afghanistan over the last two years. Of all non-Muslim countries, Beijing now has the best relationship with the isolated regime in Kabul in the world, a senior Western diplomat said.
While Beijing is not believed to be violating any United Nations-imposed sanctions in its dealings with the Taleban, the contacts have disturbed high-ranking officials from the West and some of China's central Asian neighbors. Several senior officials in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, in recent interviews, said they worried that Beijing was trying to curry favor with Kabul at the same time it made a public show of opposing terrorism which seemed to be supported by Afghanistan.
China has helped form the Shanghai Cooperative Organization that joins Russia and three central Asian nations in a loose grouping. One of its main purposes is to combat cross-border terrorism and it is specifically aimed at Afghanistan.
At the same time, China is quietly dealing with the Taleban as part of an effort to convince its officials to close Afghan-based camps that are used to train Muslim separatists from China's restive Xinjiang region. Those separatists on occasion re-enter China and launch attacks on China's security services or on civilian targets.
As part of a sweetener, Asian diplomats say, China has dangled the prospect of providing Afghanistan with much needed help on its infrastructure and economic development.
In 2000, two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei Technologies and ZTE, signed contracts to provide limited phone service for Kabul and Kandahar, near where the suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden is supposedly based, regional press reports and diplomatic sources said. Asian and Western diplomats earlier this year identified Huawei as one Chinese firm that was involved in helping Iraq bolster its air defenses by selling it communications equipment.
Chinese engineers have also held negotiations with Taleban officials about renovating an American-built power station, according to an Asian diplomat. Meanwhile, a Taleban-led business delegation came to Beijing earlier this year.
In addition, political contacts between China and the Taleban government have grown. In November 2000, a delegation from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, an influential think-tank run by the Ministry of State Security, visited Kabul and Kandahar. China's ambassador to Pakistan has also made at least one recent trip to Kabul and met with Taleban officials in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, Asian diplomatic sources said.
"China has got to make a decision and a decisive one on Afghanistan," said one senior diplomat. "It can play both sides against the middle and anger the West and other countries, or it can really work multilaterally to resolve the terrorism problem. Who knows which course it will take."
posted by danec at 3:39 PM on September 13, 2001
Um, we just gave $43 million to the Taliban in May. Don't think our hands are clean. http://www.robertscheer.com/1_natcolumn/01_columns/052201.htm
posted by cank at 3:40 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by cank at 3:40 PM on September 13, 2001
Sheesh. Did they really repeat the entire article five times at the IHT?
posted by kindall at 3:52 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by kindall at 3:52 PM on September 13, 2001
Want to hear something really scary? 2 things: 1) China has eather just signed, or is about to sign an agreement with Russia. A Military agreement that if either were to fight in a war, the other will join. Including a war with the US. 2) Members within the Chinese Government have gone on recored saying that China will be in war with the US within a few years. These are facts. Thank you Bill Clinton for giving the Chinese plans on how to build long range missles and other Military documents.
posted by tizimarc at 3:55 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by tizimarc at 3:55 PM on September 13, 2001
Good job trolling there, posting things with no basis or support of the facts.
posted by owillis at 4:00 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by owillis at 4:00 PM on September 13, 2001
danec: You're new here, welcome to Metafilter. For future reference, posting entire news stories is not appropriate for this forum. Instead, post a link to the story. Take a look at other people's comments to get a feel for what kind of posts are appreciated. Hint: Think intelligent, civil, respectful, fresh, and thought-provoking.
posted by gd779 at 4:07 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by gd779 at 4:07 PM on September 13, 2001
Is anybody else getting ulcers?
posted by crasspastor at 4:11 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by crasspastor at 4:11 PM on September 13, 2001
A military agreement with China and Russia means little.
If saudi arabia would not let them launch attacks from there, russia will help and the taleban has been a thorn in russia's side too. "NATO and Russia are united in their resolve not to let those responsible for such an inhuman act go unpunished." http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/09/13/world.response/index.html
posted by sandbox at 4:12 PM on September 13, 2001
If saudi arabia would not let them launch attacks from there, russia will help and the taleban has been a thorn in russia's side too. "NATO and Russia are united in their resolve not to let those responsible for such an inhuman act go unpunished." http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/09/13/world.response/index.html
posted by sandbox at 4:12 PM on September 13, 2001
It looks to me from the article like China has been trying to work with the Taliban to stop the training of terrorists that operate in China.
They may now find it much more effective to work with the United States to achieve the same end.
posted by rushmc at 5:21 PM on September 13, 2001
They may now find it much more effective to work with the United States to achieve the same end.
posted by rushmc at 5:21 PM on September 13, 2001
Can anyone please find another link to this story? My wife-to-be-in-2.5 weeks is going apeshit looking for one because she is getting ulcers as well.
posted by adampsyche at 5:37 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by adampsyche at 5:37 PM on September 13, 2001
Geez....China signing things with the Taleban, and evidence of Saddam Hussein cooperating with bin Laden on the attacks - everything seems a bit scarier.
posted by Spirit_VW at 8:31 PM on September 13, 2001
posted by Spirit_VW at 8:31 PM on September 13, 2001
The agreement was reported Tuesday, the same day terrorists hijacked four planes in the United States and drove them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
It doesn't say when they signed it. However, even if it was signed on Tuesday it is almost certain it was signed before the attacks started. The article fails to mention this point. Please note, the attack on Tuesday morning US time would correspond with late evening Central Asian time.
posted by jay at 10:35 PM on September 13, 2001
It doesn't say when they signed it. However, even if it was signed on Tuesday it is almost certain it was signed before the attacks started. The article fails to mention this point. Please note, the attack on Tuesday morning US time would correspond with late evening Central Asian time.
posted by jay at 10:35 PM on September 13, 2001
People, people: an agreement announced on Tuesday, was probably, very probably drafted and signed weeks ago (as jay pointed out). China is NOT going to support the Taleban in this. Russia, will love the opportunity to kick the ass of those that humiliated it. A world war is not imminent.
posted by talos at 2:35 AM on September 14, 2001
posted by talos at 2:35 AM on September 14, 2001
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posted by tinfoil at 3:31 PM on September 13, 2001