"US-China High-Level Military Talks... Discussion on Afghanistan Situation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] For the first time since the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration, the United States and China have resumed high-level military talks, with the Afghanistan situation being a major agenda, according to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 29th.

SCMP, citing Chinese military sources, reported that the most urgent agenda of the meeting was the Afghanistan situation. It also revealed that during the US-China high-level talks held in Alaska last March, the Chinese side raised concerns about Afghanistan, but the US side ignored them.

A Chinese military source said, "Wang Yi, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister, brought up the Afghanistan issue at the Alaska talks, but the US side ignored it."

He explained that the Chinese side hoped to exchange information related to Afghanistan at the Alaska talks because they recognized how complicated and dangerous the situation could become if US troops withdrew.

The source said, "If the US and China had started a dialogue on Afghanistan risk assessment (at that time), it would not have caused such great damage to both countries as it has now," adding, "China withdrew most of its state-owned enterprises from the local area three months ago." He continued, "However, Chinese private companies were unable to retrieve their local assets amid the worsening Afghanistan situation."

He emphasized, "China is concerned that extremist forces, especially the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), will expand their power and influence amid the chaos in Afghanistan," and added, "China, the US, and other countries need to cooperate to prevent such occurrences."

The source also explained that compared to the Afghanistan issue, the South China Sea issue was less emphasized in this high-level military talk, as both sides had already exchanged views on crisis management and codes of conduct in the South China Sea.