China urges unfreezing of Afghanistan's overseas assets

China reiterated its call for concerned states to unfreeze and return Afghanistan's overseas assets to aid the country's economic recovery and improve people's lives, a stance that analysts have praised.

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2763, extending for 14 months the mandate of the team monitoring sanctions against the Taliban and associated individuals or entities that "threaten Afghanistan's peace, stability and security".

China welcomed the resolution's adoption. Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said, "We support the monitoring team in strengthening its engagement with the Afghan interim government and look forward to an early visit by the team to Afghanistan."

China urges concerned countries to immediately and unconditionally unfreeze and return in full Afghanistan's overseas assets, stop imposing illegal unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan and support Afghanistan's efforts to improve its people's livelihoods, he said.

Resolution 2763 reaffirms the need to help Afghanistan address its economic and humanitarian challenges, restore its banking and financial system and utilize the central bank's assets for the benefit of the Afghan people.

Salman Bashir, former Pakistani ambassador to China, told China Daily that China's position aligns with the UN Security Council's decision to extend the mandate of the monitoring team overseeing sanctions against the Taliban and Taliban-linked individuals and entities under Resolution 2763.

"While the Taliban needs to do more to check terrorists from operating from Afghanistan, it is fair to note that the situation in the country is generally stable," he said.

Bashir agreed that human rights issues do not fall within the monitoring group's scope. More importantly, "the freezing of Afghanistan's overseas assets and unilateral sanctions are an anomaly, given the Taliban's cooperation and expanding role with the outside world", he said.

Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies in Pakistan, said China's position on Resolution 2763 reinforces its previous stance that terrorism and human rights issues should be addressed separately.

"The underlying message to other nations may be that human rights should not be used as a weapon against target nations," Gul said.

Afghanistan's overseas assets remain frozen because of sanctions on the Taliban, and the Taliban regime is demanding access to those funds, he said. However, the United States and its allies have refused and linked it to human rights in Afghanistan.

Stability and peace

"No doubt that over three years of Taliban rule has seen enough stability and peace in Afghanistan that demands unfreezing of Afghanistan's assets abroad," he said.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, told a Security Council briefing on Thursday that Afghanistan faces a critical stage of peaceful reconstruction.

"The Afghan people are facing complex challenges such as food shortages, displacement, natural disasters and contamination of explosive ordnance," he said. "Nearly 24 million people need humanitarian assistance."

At the same time, Fu said, over the past three years, the Afghan interim government has made efforts to promote economic reconstruction and strengthen economic ties, trade, investments, connectivity and cooperation within the region.

China has reiterated the urgency of unfreezing and returning Afghanistan's overseas assets, while calling for an end to unilateral sanctions. This appeal reflects China's commitment to helping Afghanistan overcome its current economic and humanitarian crises, said Khalid Taimur Akram, executive director of the Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future.

It is imperative for the global community, especially the concerned states, to acknowledge past missteps and fulfill their obligations toward Afghanistan, he said. Lifting sanctions and returning frozen assets is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic step in fostering regional peace and development, he added.