China urges its citizens to leave Afghanistan amid rising violence

Beijing has warned Chinese nationals in Afghanistan to leave the country as soon as possible amid a sharp rise in violence and for its organizations to take extra precautions during these uncertain times.

China’s warning comes amid the foreign troop withdrawal process, which is more than halfway complete.

China’s embassy in Afghanistan said on Saturday that Chinese citizens and organisations needed to take additional precautions and strengthen their emergency preparedness in the face of the deteriorating situation.

“This year, the conflicts in Afghanistan are constant, the terrorist attacks are frequent and the security situation is becoming more severe and complicated,” the embassy said in a statement, urging Chinese citizens to “be more cautious” and to “urgently depart from the country through international commercial flights”.

China has blamed a surge of attacks on the abrupt withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) after nearly two decades of their presence.

The South China Morning Post meanwhile reported that the growing violence has raised fears for Beijing that instability and terrorism could spill into its borders, including into the neighbouring Xinjiang region, where China has been accused of repression of Uygurs and other Muslim-majority ethnic minority groups.

It could also threaten Chinese development projects under Beijing’s infrastructure investment strategy the Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing indicated this month that it wanted to “substantially expand” its projects under the initiative, including in Afghanistan, SCMP reported.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in June during a meeting with Afghanistan and Pakistan that the accelerated withdrawal of US troops posed a “challenge” to Afghanistan, but could be beneficial for the country’s long-term security.

Wang said that China supported intra-Afghan talks between the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators, stressed that there should be an “orderly withdrawal” of US troops to prevent the resurgence of terrorist forces, and said the Beijing-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation could play a bigger role in the peace process.