New US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft addresses a meeting of the UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York, US, September 12, 2019. Photo: VCG

The US on Tuesday refused China's demand to include the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in a resolution on the UN's political mission in Afghanistan. The Associated Press quoted Kelly Craft, US ambassador to the UN, as saying the mission would have had "a stronger substantive mandate" if not for the insistence of a member state - a clear reference to China - demanding language highlighting "national political priorities."

In fact, it is the US, not China, that was highlighting "national political priorities." The US was only finding excuses to serve its strategy to contain China. The US policy adjustment toward China has gradually shown its negative influence on the world. Washington was merely faulting the BRI - an initiative of great importance to promote Afghanistan's connectivity with other countries - to benefit Afghanistan's infrastructure and to improve its people's living standards. 

Afghanistan has suffered from poverty, instability and isolation. The country needs help to bring it out of a difficult situation. In 2016, China and Afghanistan signed the MOU of the BRI. The MOU focuses on economic cooperation, openness, peace and mutual benefits. As an ancient economic artery of the Silk Road, Afghanistan can become a bridge that links Central Asia, South Asia and East Asia by coordinating its development strategy with the BRI.

Thanks to the BRI, the exchanges between China and Afghanistan have increased and benefited both sides. The Afghanistan-China Air Corridor, opened in 2018, has promoted trade between the two countries. China also helped Afghanistan build the National Vocational and Technical College of Afghanistan, which can greatly boost the country's employment by providing systematic technical training.

However, many people in Afghanistan continue to carry a heavy burden of war. The US war in Afghanistan, which has lasted for about 18 years, has led to the death of more than 32,000 people in Afghanistan. Neither has the US contributed much to the Afghanistan peace process. But the US criticizes China's BRI for not effectively assisting the people and government of Afghanistan. Doesn't that sound ridiculous?

The BRI is not only between China and Afghanistan. It is a big platform that welcomes all countries willing to participate in a reciprocal cooperation with China. The US can have the opportunity as well if it wants to. After more than four decades of reform and opening-up, China will open up even further and wider. We believe that a cooperative China-US relationship will be much more beneficial than unilateral US containment and suppression.

But the US seems to show no sincerity at all. Instead of really caring about Afghanistan's future stability and prosperity, the US has been calculating profits from the perspective of Washington's own political strategy. US opposition cannot stop the BRI from advancing, because the initiative is in line with the interests of the countries concerned as well as the general trend of global development. US hegemony has shown the world how selfish and hypocritical it can be, and this is exactly why the superpower is likely to suffer a decline.