Envoy calls for urgent aid for Afghanistan

At UN, China says humanitarian assistance should not be conditional

China's ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday called for countries to address Afghanistan's humanitarian situation and stabilize its economy as soon as possible.

"The current situation in Afghanistan is at a critical stage, facing multiple arduous and complex challenges," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said in explaining China's vote for the Security Council draft resolution on humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country.

"The most important task is to help Afghanistan mitigate the humanitarian crisis the soonest and to stabilize and restore the economy," he said.

"As a friendly neighbor of Afghanistan, China has always been most concerned about its well-being and has been actively taking actions to help the Afghan people."

He noted that because of international sanctions, some international humanitarian agencies are not sure whether they can continue to provide assistance to Afghanistan.

"Such doubts are unnecessary because humanitarian aid should not be conditional, nor should it be politicized under any circumstances," Zhang said. "The sanctions by the Security Council only target certain individuals and entities, not the Afghan people at large.

"Nevertheless, as long as the appropriate actions of the Security Council help to clarify doubts and facilitate the timely, smooth and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, China will certainly look at them favorably."

However, Zhang pointed out that the original draft resolution deviated from the right track.

"Not only does it not facilitate humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, it even adds to the obstacles," he said. "The original draft posits that only those aid activities carried out within a certain period will not violate the Security Council sanctions. It also sets up an onerous reporting mechanism for humanitarian aid agencies and incorporates many other irrelevant propositions that may restrict economic cooperation with Afghanistan."

Zhang said that any action of the Security Council should genuinely promote and facilitate humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, instead of setting artificial restrictions and conditions.

The envoy emphasized that the provision that humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan will not violate the Security Council resolutions only if it falls within the time limits is legally, politically and logically problematic.

"It has been China's conviction that humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan should stick to the right track and direction. To this end, China has been constructively engaged in the consultations and put forward specific amendments," Zhang said.

"We are glad to see that the final draft has reflected the views of China and clarified the key issues."

The resolution notes in explicit terms that the intention is to provide clarity to ensure the continued provision of assistance in the future, that humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan are not a violation of the sanctions resolution of the Security Council, Zhang said.

"With the adoption of this resolution, the confusion on and the obstacles to continuing the humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan can be cleared away once and for all," he said.

Zhang said the UN's appeal for humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan for next year has reached a historical high of $4.5 billion, but that there is great uncertainty about how much of that will materialize.

"We call on the international community, especially major donors, to step up assistance by actively providing financial support. The countries that caused the current crisis in Afghanistan are more obliged than others to take the lead and assume the primary responsibilities," he said.

He said Afghanistan's economy is seriously short of liquidity and on the verge of collapse.

"China will continue to promote the export of Afghanistan's agricultural products to China and play a greater role in helping Afghanistan's economic reconstruction with concrete actions," said Zhang.

The Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted the draft resolution on humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.