![]() The Indian foreign spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), told the Afghan intelligence agency about the presence of Chinese nationals in Kabul, according to one Afghan official who spoke to Foreign Policy. Xu “said that he was fluent in Farsi/Dari, Pashto, Japanese, and English,” Shoaib remembered.Ī tip from India led the Afghan intelligence agency to arrest Xu. Shoaib did not meet Xu in person but texted with him on Facebook messenger for months, discussing their interests – including jokes that Shoaib wanted Xu to find him a Chinese girlfriend. Shoaib, the student who met Xu on Facebook, said that Xu taught Chinese language at a private school as well as teaching Chinese language at his rented apartment floor in Kart-e-Char, a western neighborhood of Kabul. The trade has continued strongly ever since. In November 2018, Afghanistan opened an air corridor with China, with the first aircraft sending 20 tons of pine nuts to Shanghai. The export of jalghoza, a type of pine nut, from Afghanistan to China has boomed in recent years. It was hard to independently verify the accounts, but it was not impossible for Xu to have such a business. “Xu was in touch with another Afghan who told me that he and Xu export goods from Afghanistan, in particular exporting jalghoza to China.” Advertisement “He eventually found a company that sent him an invitation letter. “It was lots of trouble for Xu to obtain a visa,” said Salim, who studied in China for two years and transferred to a Western country. After that, Xu sought to work in the country, but the Afghan embassy in China denied him a visa multiple times, said Salim, the Afghan student. Xu told Salim that he had worked on the project. ![]() China Road and Bridge Corporation signed a contract to construct roads between Bamyan and Baghlan in January 2017. Xu, in his 30s, made his first visit to Afghanistan for a road project in Bamyan. The unclear fate of the Haqqani Network shows the complexity of the unending war in Afghanistan.Įnjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. In the U.S.-Taliban agreement document, there is no mention of the Haqqani Network. The network, which has been responsible for conducting the most violent attacks in Kabul and other urban areas, has been designated a terrorist group by the U.S. The accusation of Chinese nationals building ties with the Haqqani Network brought to light the unclear fate of the network amid the ongoing peace negotiations. Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific. The Afghan intelligence agency, which had received tips from the Indian intelligence agency about the Chinese nationals, speculated that the Xu and the others built ties with the Haqqani Network in order to track down Uyghur extremists. The Trump administration accused the Chinese nationals of offering pay to non-state actors for killing U.S. Xu stood in the center of accusations of ties with the Haqqani Network. Shoaib and Salim were stunned when Xu and nine other Chinese nationals in Kabul were arrested in December of last year. Xu took Salim on vacations in China, and Salim invited Xu to his house in Kabul. Salim*, then a first-year student at a university in China in early 2019, met Xu on a WeChat group, a messaging app similar to WhatsApp. Xu had built a network of local friends, including Chinese language teachers and Chinese language students. Shoaib, an Afghan who wanted to learn Chinese language, met Xu on Facebook. Xu taught Chinese language at his rented apartment in Kart-e-Char, a middle-class neighborhood of Kabul. Shoaib* knew Xu* as a Chinese language teacher at a local private school.
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