China has offered the Afghanistan army expanded military aid to combat the Taliban, according to the Afghan Defense Ministry, a move that reflects Beijing’s readiness to deepen its engagement with the war-torn country. The offer was made during a rare, high-level visit at the end of February by a Chinese military delegation headed by General Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army, Afghan officials said.
“A commission has been assigned to make the wish list,” the Journal quoted Mohammad Radmanish, the defense minister’s deputy spokesman, as saying. The list might include light weapons, aircraft parts and uniforms, he said. China’s total military aid offered to Afghanistan, including the latest one, amounts to just over $70 million and was originally promised on the sidelines of a conference in Russia last year. The sum is small compared with aid provided by other countries, including the U.S., which has invested tens of billions of dollars in Afghanistan’s security forces.
The U.S. has welcomed greater Chinese involvement in Afghanistan in recent years. “We support any role, China or other nations can play in bringing long-term stability to Afghanistan,” a State Department spokesperson said, according to the Journal. The Chinese Defense Ministry has said that relations between the two militaries have been improving in recent years and that more cooperation is in the offing, including in training.
“Both sides are willing to further deepen military exchanges in various fields and strengthen pragmatic cooperation in counterterrorism, training and training of personnel in order to contribute to safeguarding regional security,” the ministry said in a statement.
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