China urges US to remove sanctions from Afghanistan amid rising humanitarian crisis

Asia-Pacific, News January 16, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

China urges the U.S. to release frozen assets and lift the unilaterally imposed sanctions from Afghanistan amid the rising humanitarian crisis.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated last week during the press briefing that the U.S.’s conquest of Afghanistan has caused great destruction, and the sanctions are hurting the country’s economy and people’s livelihood.

The remarks came after the Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar called for the international community to aid Afghanistan to counter the severe humanitarian challenges rising in the country due to the sanctions posed by the United States.

When asked to comment on Baradar’s remarks, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the Chinese government and Chinese people have great sympathy for Afghan people who are suffering even worse in the winter.

“We urge the U.S. side to deeply reflect on its mistakes, shoulder its due international responsibilities and lift its asset freeze and unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan as soon as possible, and strive to undo the damage it inflicted on the Afghan people,” Wang added.

Wang said that the international community should push the U.S. to unfreeze the assets of Afghanistan that belong to the people of Afghanistan and sympathize with the people of Afghanistan instead of worsening their crisis.

*^{Harsh winter and snowfall deepen the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. (Image Credit: Euronews)}*

Afghanistan’s interim government has been facing challenges after the U.S. withdrawal from the country. The government is being run by the Taliban, whom the U.S. fought a 20 year-long battle. The U.S. does not recognize the Taliban and their government as the legitimate governing body of Afghanistan. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the Biden administration froze $9.5 billion of Afghan foreign reserves and put pressure on the international monetary fund to delay the emergency support for the new Afghan government.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, severe droughts, and the loss of foreign aid pushed Afghanistan’s already fragile economy on a brink of collapse. As the winter season intensifies across the country, the Taliban government is rapidly seeking an injection from the international community to avoid the immensely increasing threat of mass starvation and refugee crisis.

Although the treasury department of the U.S. has already released a new regulation under which it would be easier for the nongovernment organization from the U.S. to help Afghanistan amid the humanitarian crisis, there has not been any progress on unfreezing Afghanistan’s foreign reserves.