Afghan Assets $ US Aid Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

 
China on Friday at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva urged the US to immediately and comprehensively lift its unilateral coercive measures against Afghanistan, unconditionally return assets belonging to the Afghan people, and take concrete actions to help the Afghan people improve their living conditions and repair the damage caused by the US.

On Friday, the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council held an emergency debate on the human rights situation of Afghan women and girls. Ambassador Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva, stated China's position and propositions.

Afghanistan has been hit by the worst earthquake in more than 20 years, which caused heavy losses of life and property, and severe challenges to the human rights of Afghan people, including women and girls, Chen said.

The Chinese government immediately decided to provide 50 million yuan ($7.46 million) of emergency humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and the assistance has been delivered to Afghanistan in recent days, according to Chen.

Among the assistance, two PLA Air Force Y-20 cargo planes arrived at Kabul International Airport on Tuesday morning, carrying with them disaster relief supplies provided by China including tents, towel blankets, folding beds and other items urgently needed by the Afghan people, China Central Television reported on Tuesday.

As of June 29, three batches of relief materials have arrived in Afghanistan, said Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, at a regular press briefing on Thursday, noting that China is coordinating closely with the Afghan interim government to ensure that relief materials are delivered to the victims as soon as possible to help the Afghan people through their difficulties.

Chen called on the international community to step up assistance in light of Afghanistan's needs to help the Afghan people overcome difficulties and resume normal production and life at an early date.

Afghanistan is at a historical crossroads and peace and development are vital to the enjoyment of human rights by the Afghan people, Chen said. The international community should respect the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and respect the choice of the Afghan people, and respect the religious beliefs and ethnic customs, Chen noted. Also, the Chinese ambassador called on the international community to strengthen contact and dialogue with the Afghan interim government, and support it to improve a widely inclusive political structure and take practical measures to fight all forms of terrorism, promote and protect human rights of all people, including women and girls, and strengthen independent and sustainable development ability.

The US is the initiator of the Afghan issues and bears the primary responsibility, Chen pointed out.

The war in Afghanistan has resulted in large numbers of innocent civilians being killed and tens of millions of people becoming refugees, including large numbers of women and girls. The US has blatantly plundered Afghan national assets, further aggravating the suffering of the Afghan people, Chen said.

The Chinese envoy to the UN urged the US to immediately and comprehensively lift its unilateral coercive measures against Afghanistan, unconditionally return assets belonging to the Afghan people, and take concrete actions to help the Afghan people improve their living conditions and repair the damage caused by the US.

Over 421,000 netizens signed the joint letter published by the Global Times in February demanding the US return life-saving money to the Afghans, after the US released a plan to unfreeze money from Afghanistan's central bank but use it for the US' needs in February, which outraged the international community.

Global Times