The Afghan Taliban have been fighting fiercely with anti-Tajif in Panjshir province for several days. A new Afghan government is on the horizon, and Panjhir is the last region of Afghanistan that is not under Taliban control.
Half a century ago, Hua Liming, an 82-year-old Chinese diplomat, was stationed in Afghanistan for six years as an interpreter for the Chinese embassy. During his stay in Afghanistan, he traveled throughout Afghanistan's landscapes, including the Panjhir Valley at the southern foot of the Hindu Kush Mountains.
"When Liu Shaoqi visited Afghanistan in 1966, the two sides signed an economic cooperation agreement on a water conservancy project in Panjahir, which I have been to many times." Hua Liming recalled that the Water Conservancy Project, which was only half built with Chinese aid, was interrupted by the outbreak of war.
War-torn Afghanistan also made the United States and the Soviet Union and other major powers suffer and won the title of "Imperial Cemetery". U.S. troops have been stationed in Afghanistan for 20 years, and finally withdrew. In Hua Liming's eyes, Afghans were hospitable and at the same time very militaristic, "It was a period of peace and stability in Afghanistan, and adult men also carried a gun." ”
"Everywhere we went, Afghans slaughtered sheep and chickens and welcomed us warmly. But if you find out that you are the enemy, the aggressor, they will also fight to the death, which is the national character of the Afghans. Hua Liming said.
Old King Zahir: China is the most reliable friend
In 1958, Hua Liming, who was a sophomore majoring in English at the Beijing Chinese College, was selected to enter the newly established Persian major of Peking University. After working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Liming's first stop on a mission in 1965 was Afghanistan.
Dari is spoken in northern regions such as Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and is equivalent to a dialect of Persian. In September 1966, when Premier Zhou Enlai was passing through Afghanistan on a visit to Romania, Prince Sultan, the cousin of King Zahir of the Barakzai Dynasty of Afghanistan, went to greet him, and Hua Liming was ordered to serve as an interpreter. This is the first time Hua Liming has translated for Premier Zhou.
In September 1966, Premier Zhou Enlai's visit to Romania passed through Afghanistan, where he was greeted by the Prince of Sultan (a drinker) of Afghanistan, with Hua Liming (first from left) acting as an interpreter.
Because of her work relationship, Hua Liming often met with Chahill, Sultan and other core members of the Afghan royal family at that time. Zahir's enlightened approach to government is embraced by the Afghan people. In Hua Liming's memory, Kabul at that time was very prosperous, and although ordinary people were not rich, their lives were stable, and many things that could not be seen in China at that time could be seen in Kabul.
In July 1973, Zahir's cousin Daoud took advantage of his visit to Italy to stage a coup d'état and establish a republic. "Since then, Afghanistan has been plunged into decades of turmoil and war, experiencing many bloody coups, Soviet invasions, warlord scuffles, the rise to power of the Taliban, and the invasion of the United States. Hua Liming said.
After the Taliban regime was overthrown by the United States, in 2002, Hua Liming, who had just retired from his post as ambassador to the Netherlands, led a delegation back to Afghanistan after 31 years and met Zahir, who had recently returned from exile. At this time, Cha-hil was nearly ninety years old, and hua Liming was quite emotional to see that he was dying of old age and had limited mobility, and Kabul was devastated after the US bombing and became a ruin.
In 2002, Hua Liming, who revisited Afghanistan, met with former Afghan King Zahir.
After returning to China, Zahir spent his old age in peace. When meeting Chinese guests, he also fondly recalled his close relationship with Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi and other leaders of the older generation of Chinese leaders. As a major country adjacent to Afghanistan, China has never bullied Afghanistan, and the Afghan people have a deep friendship with the Chinese people and regard China as the friendliest neighbor and the most reliable friend.
On July 23, 2007, The 93-year-old Zahir died in Kabul.
In peacetime, Afghan men also had a gun in their hands
"I would never have had the opportunity to go so far in Afghanistan. In 1966, Liu Shaoqi visited Afghanistan, and the two sides agreed to carry out economic cooperation. The Chinese side was invited to send two expedition teams to Afghanistan to investigate. Hua Liming said that he followed the industrial expedition team and traveled through the mountains and rivers of Afghanistan, including some very remote places.
In Hua Liming's impression, the Afghan society at that time was stable and peaceful under the rule of Zahir. Chinese experts treat Afghans as equals, and the simple Afghan people also warmly entertain guests from afar. "Afghans are particularly polite and respectful to others. But there is one condition: he thinks you are not the enemy. If he thinks you're the enemy, he'll deal with you unceremoniously like the Taliban did when they revolted, and they're very fierce. ”
The brave and warlike Afghans never let the invaders retreat, and Afghanistan was given the title of "Graveyard of Empire". To this day, ethnic and blood-based tribes remain the basic social formation of Afghanistan. Hua Liming said that when he followed the expedition team to visit, it was a peaceful period in Afghanistan, but among the Pashtun tribes south of the Hindu Kush Mountains, adult men also carried a gun and did not participate in productive labor.
Afghan tribal warriors, 1980.
"It's a woman's business to work. It's all a habit of their tribe. Coupled with the frequent fighting between tribes, they developed a fierce national character. ”
In 2001, the United States launched the war in Afghanistan, which overthrew the Taliban regime in just one month. But 20 years later, when U.S. troops withdrew, the resurgent Taliban easily regained control of Afghanistan. "The Taliban were crushed 20 years ago, but they weren't wiped out, they just stopped ruling. The Taliban returned to rural tribal areas and occupied much of Afghanistan for 20 years, with the American-backed central government effectively controlling kabul only. As soon as the Americans withdrew, the Taliban took Kabul in a hurry. ”
After the outbreak of the Afghan war in 2001, a building inside the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan was destroyed. Hua Liming lived here from 1965 to 1971.
Afghanistan is a mountainous country with inconvenient transportation. Except for a few roads built with the help of the United States and the Soviet Union, the roads were mostly dirt roads, and the expedition team took jeeps in Afghanistan. "Afghanistan was pursuing a policy of non-alignment, and both the United States and the Soviet Union were fighting for it. The Soviet Union built an airport in Kabul, and the United States built an airport in Kandahar. Kabul airport is very lively these two days, and when I look at it on TV, I find that it is still the old airport. Hua Liming said.
In 2002, Hua Liming, who revisited Afghanistan, photographed the devastation of the war.
All countries have hopes for the Taliban, but...
Why did the 300,000 former Afghan government troops trained by the US military collapse in front of the Taliban? "If an army has no faith, no goal, just to get a salary to fight, when it really needs to go to the battlefield, the soldiers probably run away and don't want to fight." It's easy to understand what happened in Afghanistan, and it's the same in Iraq today. Hua Liming said.
In recent days, a conversation between former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton many years ago has once again been hotly discussed online. In the conversation, Hillary Clinton made it clear that during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it was the United States that in order to counter the Soviet Union, it invested manpower and material resources in cooperation with Saudi Arabia and other countries, and introduced extremist ideas, cultivated anti-Soviet armed forces in Afghanistan, and eventually formed the Taliban force. Hua Liming admitted that whether the Taliban can completely change the innate Islamic fundamentalist genes is the key to where Afghanistan is going next.
Afghan fighter carrying a US-made Stinger anti-aircraft missile. These U.S.-supplied weapons became a weapon for Afghanistan to resist Soviet forces.
"The Taliban sent a delegation to Doha to negotiate with the United States a few months before the occupation of Kabul, visited Russia, China and Iran, and made some commitments. These commitments are more optimistic, such as the establishment of inclusive governments, reconciliation, non-discrimination against women and a drawdown from terrorism. The major powers are hoping that the Taliban will honour those commitments, especially since Afghanistan can no longer be a breeding ground for terrorism. Hua Liming said that now, all countries in the world have a certain hope for the Taliban, hoping that today's Taliban will be different from the Taliban 20 years ago.
"If the Taliban can really deliver on their promises, I think there is a real possibility of a historic turning point in Afghanistan, a government that has the ability to control the situation throughout the country, that is not extreme in its policies, and that does not support terrorism." The question now is, to what extent can we trust the Taliban's promises? ”
Hua Liming pointed out that the Taliban face several major challenges if they want to fulfill their promises. First, the changes promised by the Taliban run counter to the ideas they once insisted on and could lead to divisions within the Taliban; second, whether the Taliban can unite the vast tribes of Afghanistan and the anti-Taliban forces that have long existed and still persist in fighting; and third, whether the Taliban are inextricably linked to terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida and can draw a clear line with them.
"These are all uncertain factors, and if there is a problem on either side, it is quite tricky for the Taliban." As for the Taliban, we still have to listen to their words and deeds. Hua Liming said.
Source Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Bai Bo
Edited by Wang Wenmiao
Process Editor Wu Yue