There is a beige wool rug in front of my door. Its bold lines and uneven pattern indicate that this is a handmade piece. This little rug has a big origin, having been carried all the way home from mysterious Afghanistan in my suitcase more than 10 years ago. The reason why I bought it thanks to a young boy named Ahmad and a wild dog that accompanied him.
I was still in college at that time, and I visited Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, during my vacation. One day, I was taking a walk on the hillside near my place after lunch, but I couldn’t expect to find no way back. When I was in a hurry, a dog barked at me. I was afraid of dogs before, let alone encountering a native dog on a wild hillside in Afghanistan. Luckily, the dog had its owner, a young boy in his teens who offered me a hand. His name was Ahmad, and he not only led me down the mountain, but also let me visit his house by the way. It turned out that his family owned a small rug weaving workshop. I was very grateful to him, and of course, I wanted to bring back some souvenirs from Afghanistan. So, I bought this memorable handmade Afghan wool rug.
After more than a decade of life, Ahmad may have had a son. But Afghanistan still has not achieved peace and is currently at a crossroads once again. In the future, will it fall into the quagmire of civil war or achieve peace and development through internal reconciliation?
The Afghan people are tired of war and long for peace. I have been to Afghanistan many times and I know many Afghan friends. From them I found no matter what class or nationality, people hate war deeply. The Afghans of my age were almost born and raised with war and have been deeply suffering from it. The people’s desire for peace is unstoppable by anyone.
China and other brotherly countries are sparing no efforts to persuade talks and promote peace. Recently, the fourth China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue was successfully held, and the “Trilateral Joint Statement” as well as China’s “Five-point Proposal” and “Four-point Cooperation Vision” illuminated the road to peace in Afghanistan. China is the largest neighboring country of Afghanistan, and Pakistan has an important influence on Afghanistan. Regional countries are working together to promote the reconciliation process in Afghanistan for the better.
The U.S. and Western countries should not leave irresponsibly. The U.S. is the instigator of the war in Afghanistan. It is easy to destroy a country using military means, but difficult to build a country. The U.S. and Western countries have to responsibly withdraw from Afghanistan and continuously support the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan, which is not only a means to maintain its international image, but also its debt owed to the Afghan people, its responsibility and obligation.
More than ten years have passed and my affinity with Afghanistan has grown deeply. Every time I go home and step on this rug from Afghanistan, the thought often flashes through my mind that I will have the opportunity to visit Afghanistan again, preferably when the epidemic is over, and peace has been achieved. When I watched the TV news at home, I saw that during the recent visit of China’s leader in Qinghai, he visited a local rug factory, grassroots communities and the beautiful Qinghai Lake, which have some similarities with the Afghan wool rugs and Band-Amir Lake. Although this rug in front of my door is not so beautiful, it is durable and inexpensive, and it exudes the simple and strong local customs from Afghanistan. If Afghanistan is at peace, how can this beautiful country, with such good people and rich resources, not live a good life?
