I have read eight articles of Mr. Liu Jinsong, the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Afghanistan, published by Maseer Daily since the beginning of 2018. I perused his first article in late January. Ambassador Liu had an interview with media, and Maseer Daily had later published a report about it. Many Afghan analysts and experts, including me, are usually busy examining Kabul-Washington and Kabul-EU relations. The read of Liu’s first article at such a time was very interesting for me.
An absolute majority of Afghans see China as a “good neighbor”, and believe that it will not violate the principles of good neighborliness. Meanwhile, there is widespread propaganda against China at the global level requiring Beijing to have active diplomacy to blunt the negative impacts of the propaganda.
Liu Jinsong took up office as the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Afghanistan in the initial days of 2018. He is the first foreign ambassador whose credentials were accepted by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in 2018. Ambassador Liu has long lived in Urumqi, the capital city of China’s northwest Xinjiang province. He has extensive information about, and is fully familiar with, Afghanistan, an edge that has won him a reputation in Afghanistan. Since his first days into the mission, Ambassador Liu has initiated efforts to facilitate the export of Afghan pine nuts, carpets, and marble to China.
It would be no exaggeration to say that Ambassador Liu is a representation of Afghanistan-China Friendship, because he has played an active, crucial role in promoting and popularizing the friendship. Afghanistan and China are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, good friends, and their friendship goes back to ancient times. In 1971, Afghanistan has voted in favor of China in the United Nations, and both nations have demonstrated their friendliness time and again throughout the history. However, I consider Mr. Liu as the mirror of Afghan-Sino Friendship, as he has broadened the bond from a state-to-state to a nation-to-nation level, and cultivated a lasting relationship between Afghans and Chinese. A key example of Liu’s extraordinary diplomacy is that he opportunely shares his activities with the public through media. He is never exaggerating, and his sincerity and dedication as envoy of a friendly country is evident in his articles. Another important characteristic of Ambassador Liu’s diplomacy is being sentimental. He has realized that Afghans cannot be forced into friendship, so there is a need to forge friendship with them based on mutual respect. He is trying to sentimentally, but rationally deal with issues. Mr. Liu flew Ariana Afghan Airlines, the country’s national carrier, on his maiden trip to Afghanistan. His aircraft took off from Urumqi airport and landed at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul after three hours. Located in close proximity to Afghanistan, Urumqi is visited by thousands of Afghan traders every year. By travelling from Urumqi to Kabul, Mr. Ambassador proved how much closer the two neighboring countries are located to each other. On the other hand, his travel to Kabul in Ariana Afghan Airlines showed his respect and commitment for the national values of Afghanistan, and won the hearts of all Afghan traders who travel back and forth between Kabul and Urumqi for business purposes.
Though China is a world’s major economic power, permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a key international player, it has many commonalities with Afghanistan. Faced with poverty and terrorism, both Afghanistan and China are trying to overcome the threats. Ambassador Liu has greatly focused on these common areas in his diplomacy, which has also produced positive results. China provided thousands of tons of food items (rice) to Afghanistan as it is experiencing severe drought in decades. Moreover, Beijing has also profusely assisted Kabul in accelerating Afghan peace process, and making it a success. There is no doubt that the credit for these efforts goes to the Chinese government, but Ambassador Liu’s role is significant since it is he who coordinates all these endeavors and shares information with people.
Another prominent trait of Liu is that he never exaggerates, whitewashes facts, and spares no efforts to assist Afghans. For instance, he frankly said after China’s delivery of food assistance to Afghanistan that a lot of his countrymen were grappling with poverty; therefore, if his country cannot provide more assistance to Afghans, it can share with them the resources it has at its disposal. His candid statements well gauge Liu’s integrity and sincerity with Afghans. China has recently launched the ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) initiative, which is a mega economic and infrastructure development project designed to link countries around the world via land and maritime routes. There is a massive propaganda against OBOR at the global level, but Liu Jinsong has always tried in his articles to dilute the effects of such propaganda. Through the OBOR initiative, China is said to be pursuing to tighten its grip on the world, but Ambassador Liu has constantly insisted in his articles that China has no desire for seeking global hegemony. In his latest article published by Maseer Daily, he has said quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping that China would still consider itself a developing country despite the progress it has made, and would never attempt to seek superiority and influence over other countries. Every character of Liu’s articles is “sweet”. This pleasantness stems from the sweet smell of Afghan-Sino Friendship, one that is represented by Ambassador Liu Jinsong.
