Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan and acting deputy minister of disaster management of the Afghan interim government attended the handover ceremony on December 20, 2021. Photo: Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan.

China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has donated 300-million-yuan ($47 million) worth of food and winter supplies to its neighboring four provinces of Afghanistan. 

Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and the acting deputy minister of disaster management of the Afghan interim government Ghulam Ghaus co-chaired the handover ceremony on Tuesday. Officials and public representatives from the four provinces attended the event virtually.

The naan bread, milk powder, cotton-padded clothes and shoes were donated by people from Xinjiang through China-Afghanistan Railway and will play a positive role in helping Afghans solve current problems since it may be hard for them to survive winter without assistance, said the Chinese ambassador.

Wang said that Xinjiang is adjacent to the four provinces of Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz and Baghlan with people across the border getting on well with each other for many years. 

"Once as the place suffering from the forces of separatism, extremism and terrorism, Xinjiang has fundamentally improved its security situation, accomplishing unprecedented achievements in economic and social development thanks to China's proper governance," Wang said. 

Having similar experience to Afghans who were oppressed and blockaded by foreign powers, the Chinese people help them solve food and clothing problems with aid, Wang noted. 

As a shared community, China's prosperity will benefit Afghanistan and vice versa. China sincerely wishes Afghanistan to soon realize stability, economic prosperity, ethnic harmony and social prosperity, Wang emphasized 

Ghulam Ghaus, the acting deputy minister of disaster management, appreciated the food and winter supplies Xinjiang offered, saying Afghans will remember China's great and precious help in multiple areas especially under the sanction of several countries.

Some countries cannot even safeguard the human rights of their people domestically but launch sanctions on Afghanistan on the ground of it, violating human rights of people in other countries, added the deputy minister.

Afghan provincial officials and public representatives expressed gratitude to Xinjiang's timely aid and the friendship with China. They said that people of the four provinces are suffering from humanitarian disasters caused by the combination of frequent natural disasters, economic recession and years of war.

Global Times