Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The Taliban's recent remarks regarding China have garnered extensive attention. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, when asked about "the mass incarceration of fellow Muslims in Xinjiang and other human-rights abuses there," a senior Taliban official in Doha said they "care about the oppression of Muslims," but they won't interfere in China's internal affairs. The report also quoted Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen, who said any decision would have to be made based on the realities on the ground at that time, in response to a question about "whether a Taliban-dominated government of Afghanistan would join Western nations in condemning human-rights abuses in Xinjiang at the United Nations."

Western media outlets interpreted these remarks as a signal that the Taliban is currying favor with Beijing. The Wall Street Journal report highlighted the Taliban's "past support for Uygur militants in Xinjiang," claiming the group now is eager to "assuage China's concerns" and "secure Beijing's acquiescence to their rule."

Questioning the Taliban's stance on China's Xinjiang policy, does the US have any sense of shame? Just look at the human rights disaster the US created in Afghanistan. The most conservative estimates by local and international rights group suggest that close to 47,600 civilians were killed and more than double that number injured in Afghanistan during the 20 years of war. 

The US is now walking away irresponsibly after poking a hornets' nest, leaving a devastated country and a shocking humanitarian disaster behind. And the US has not figured out how to guarantee the safety of Afghan interpreters who worked for the American military. And what about the atrocities the Australian troops did to Afghan civilians? Shouldn't the US apologize to the Muslims in Afghanistan first if it truly cares about Muslims' human rights?

"Obviously, the Western media was attempting to stir up troubles between the Taliban and Beijing, but the Taliban won't easily fall into the trap," Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times. 

It is hard for the West to make an issue of Xinjiang between the Taliban and Beijing. With the US troops pulling out of Afghanistan, the country has come to a critical point and the Taliban is hoping to gain more understanding from the international community including China. China upholds a policy of not interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. In recent years, China has made prominent efforts and played a constructive role in promoting peace in Afghanistan. It has tried to provide dialogue platforms between the Afghan government and the Taliban to discuss peace and reconciliation in the war-torn country. 

Questioning the Taliban on the Xinjiang issue, the West did not really care about Xinjiang Uygurs' human rights. It instead hoped to sow discord between Beijing and the Taliban. The so-called Xinjiang human rights issue is only a tool created by the US and its Western allies to smear and create trouble for China.

"American politicians hate Chinese and Muslims, but somehow, they care about Chinese Muslims" - this joke now has become known to all. Obviously, Washington wants to drag China's Xinjiang into a quagmire like the one that plagues Afghanistan to create trouble for China. Fortunately, this reality has been seen through by an increasing number of countries, especially Muslim countries.