China, Afghanistan Seal New Economic And Security Deals
Rubi Valdez | | Oct 29, 2014 06:12 AM EDT |
(Photo : REUTERS/Jason Lee) Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (R) and China's President Xi Jinping inspect honour guards during a welcoming ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 28, 2014.
China and Afghanistan arrived on important economic and security deals during Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's four-day visit to Beijing starting Tuesday.
Part of the deal involves a US$327 million pledge for Afghanistan's economic restructuring that will run from 2014 to 2017. China will also help train professionals in Kabul in various industries.
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Ghani, on the other hand, urged the Chinese government to invest in Afghanistan on projects related to infrastructures and manufacturing.
In return, Ghani guaranteed China its support in the fight against the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a group of Muslim separatists based on Xinjiang province. Kong Xuanyou, director general of the Department of Asian Affairs, said Afghanistan condemns any terror act committed in Chinese soil.
China and Afganistan lie in a 76-kilometer border, where the ETIM left hundreds of fatalities over the past two years in the Xinjiang Uygur region.
In addition, Chinese President Xi Jinping said he wanted to help the Afghan government provide more livelihood means to its people through projects like the Aynak copper mine and Amu Darya oil reservoir.
Aynak which is situated 35 kilometers south of the country's capital has the largest copper deposits in the world amounting to at least 11 million tons of metal. On the other hand, the Amu Darya reservoir contains approximately 80 million barrels of crude oil.
Xi vowed as an ally for peace and reconciliation even when most U.S. and NATO forces plan to withdraw its military bases in Kabul. According to Shao Yuqun, an expert in Afghanistan affairs, China's allegiance is treated with "significant importance" in war-torn countries like Pakistan and Iran.
Pro-China critics also dismissed allegations that the agreement is purely commercial. An article by Global Times stated that the West has no basis of putting malice into the China-Afghan ties especially that the U.S. military deployment in Kabul "caused massive civilian casualties" over the past 13 years.
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