Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai yesterday invited the Taliban to join in a peace process backed by the international community, an unusual direct reference to the insurgents who have stepped up attacks in an attempt to bring down his month-old government.
Speaking at a conference on Afghan peace and reconstruction in Beijing, Ahmadzai made no specific proposals and indicated government forces would not back away from the fight.
However, his mention of the Taliban by name marked a departure from his usual public references to them as “political opponents.”
“Peace is our highest priority. We invite the political opposition, particularly the Taliban, to join and enter Afghan dialogue, and ask all of our international partners to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process,” Ahmadzai said.
Ahmadzai’s attitude toward the Taliban has been a departure from that of his predecessor, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who habitually referred to the insurgents as his “brothers” and castigated the US for its military presence in Afghanistan.
In his address to the gathering, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) said China has faith in Afghanistan’s ability to solve its own problems, but that its neighbors should help create a peaceful environment without interfering in its internal affairs.
China, the region’s economic powerhouse, on Wednesday said it would provide US$330 million in grants to Afghanistan along with professional training and scholarships for 3,500 Afghans over the next five years.
Beijing is keen to help develop Afghanistan’s estimated US$3 trillion in mineral wealth and wants a strong, stable government in Kabul to prevent unrest spilling over into its restive northwestern region of Xinjiang, where radicals among the native Uighur population have launched a series of attacks in recent months.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese