Recently, I read a report about a group of children in Afghanistan who unfortunately suffered from congenital heart disease (CHD), and they were going to receive medical treatment with help from the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC).
Since then, some 27 critically ill Afghan children and their families, accompanied by leaders from the Afghan Red Crescent Society, have come to China for free surgery.
The program that made the trip possible first began in August 2017. Last year, the RCSC foreign aid team went to Afghanistan to carry out a screening program and transferred 21 local children to China for free surgery.
On June 15 this year, a second batch of 25 children with CHD who had successfully received medical treatment returned home to Afghanistan. On July 18, a third batch of 27 children from Afghanistan completed their treatment in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Together with the arrival of these children, I referred to at the beginning the RCSC is set to accumulatively achieve the goal of rescuing 100 Afghan children with the disease in total.
For parents, I think they feel the same in any country all over the world; children’s affairs are always big things. Although the number of 100 children is not huge, the point I would like to make is that this action expresses the sincere love from the Chinese government, its embassies, the Red Cross and related medical workers, and especially of Chinese parents for Afghan children.
Everyone agrees that a child’s smiling face is the most beautiful thing to see in the world. We hope to see more peace, security, happiness and sunshine in the lives of not only Chinese youth but also our neighbors, Afghan children and youth there, too.
Long term friendly relations are more than just unilateral assistance. It so happened that there was another story about China and Afghanistan that recently appeared in the news.
On the opening day of China International Import Expo in Shanghai, nearly 20 tons Afghan pine nuts were sent to China via air. In recent days, I learned some interesting information about pine nuts in China.
Previously, we called them Brazil pine nuts. A famous dried fruit company originally called them baxi pine nuts which means “Brazil pine nuts” due to a misunderstanding. Few people know that such delicious nuts are actually from Afghanistan.
Additionally, saffron and carpets from Afghanistan were also welcomed warmly during the expo. Everyone who is exposed to the beautiful side of Afghanistan has been surprised. They can get access to exclusive information about this magic country at the expo.
Another story I want to share was witnessed by myself. I am delighted that nearly half a month ago I participated in the 7th Herat security dialogue which was organized by the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies. The point I want to make here is that I came across a group of local children in my hotel and I met them. They were all studying Chinese martial arts.
Thousands of kilometers away from China, some lovely Afghan children were practicing Chinese martial arts nearly every day. When I asked them about the reason for that, they told me it was just because of their interest from their hearts. Obviously, these children have had to practice hard, besides facing many more difficulties than those of the same age in China. I wanted to give them a thumbs-up.
Those are just three little stories that I happened to encounter. I also don’t want to say any theories about geopolitics or international relations. To be simple, China and Afghanistan are good neighbors and we have to be. You can’t imagine living a happy life if your neighbors are quarreling at home every day. So, my Chinese compatriots and I really hope that my friends in Afghanistan can live a good life.
I think that this is also the starting point for each policy, initiative and program of the Chinese government for Afghanistan.
