CGTN: What is China’s red line with the Taliban?

[magra]

Thousands of jeeps, humvees, anti-mine vehicles, arms and ammunition in Taliban's possession right now was paid for poppy farming too - yes?

That happened now due to US foolishness. I dont think they ever got such a large cache of armes and ammunition in the last 20 years.

Today Taliban seized 25 trucks carrying weapons to Pakistan.

Who was carrying the trucks with weapons now that the NATO is already out?

 

[Verve]

That happened now due to US foolishness. I dont think they ever got such a large cache of armes and ammunition in the last 20 years.

They didn't need such large cache of arms etc to fight a guerrilla war for 20 years. They seized arms from ANA and it's supply routes - Read about all the attacks on NATO and ANA forces in last 20 years. Even if they were given money by outsiders, how did they get new and US made weapons supplied to them? Look at India's distancing ally for this answer ... just as USA funded and supplied arms to use against Soviets, Russians most likely funded and supplied Taliban.

Who was carrying the trucks with weapons now that the NATO is already out?

Anti-Pakistan terrorists using smugglers. Question is: Where did all these weapons come from? Clearly they were not in Taliban's possession.

 

[magra]

They didn't need such large cache of arms etc to fight a guerrilla war for 20 years. They seized arms from ANA and it's supply routes - Read about all the attacks on NATO and ANA forces in last 20 years. Even if they were given money by outsiders, how did they get new and US made weapons supplied to them? Look at India's distancing ally for this answer ... just as USA funded and supplied arms to use against Soviets, Russians most likely funded and supplied Taliban.

Anti-Pakistan terrorists using smugglers. Question is: Where did all these weapons come from? Clearly they were not in Taliban's possession.

This tid-bit of recent news from Pakistani media.

Drug abuse

WITH over 7m drug users in the country and given the inefficiency of the law-enforcement authorities towards the...

www.dawn.com

Here's a key excerpt

" at present around 40pc of Afghanistan’s illicit heroin and opium trade is reportedly routed through Pakistan "

Another from Alzeera

Opium: Afghanistan’s drug trade that helped fuel the Taliban

Taliban are involved from poppy planting, opium extraction, trafficking to charging smugglers export fees.

www.aljazeera.com

Here's a key excerpt

" The Taliban banned poppy growing in 2000 as they sought international legitimacy, but faced a popular backlash and later mostly changed their stance"

" even during droughts and wheat shortages, when wheat prices rocket, Afghan farmers have grown poppy and extracted opium gum that is refined into morphine and heroin. In recent years, many have installed Chinese-made solar panels to power deep water wells. "

 

[Verve]

This tid-bit of recent news from Pakistani media.

Drug abuse

WITH over 7m drug users in the country and given the inefficiency of the law-enforcement authorities towards the...

www.dawn.com

Here's a key excerpt

" at present around 40pc of Afghanistan’s illicit heroin and opium trade is reportedly routed through Pakistan "

Another from Alzeera

Opium: Afghanistan’s drug trade that helped fuel the Taliban

Taliban are involved from poppy planting, opium extraction, trafficking to charging smugglers export fees.

www.aljazeera.com

Here's a key excerpt

" The Taliban banned poppy growing in 2000 as they sought international legitimacy, but faced a popular backlash and later mostly changed their stance"

" even during droughts and wheat shortages, when wheat prices rocket, Afghan farmers have grown poppy and extracted opium gum that is refined into morphine and heroin. In recent years, many have installed Chinese-made solar panels to power deep water wells. "

Dawn news

Afghanistan's farmers supply the raw material/resin - not final drug sold by drug dealers globally.

So how much did Taliban make, billions or millions, over the past 20 years?

And were 150,000 US/NATO forces jerking off in Afghanistan for 20 years that they couldn't stop this drug trade that supposedly financed the Taliban? There were videos of NATO soldiers walking alongside poppy fields but never destroying any crop!!
As said before, look at drug prices .. lower the price, higher the supply from Afghanistan. Then match the dates as to who controlled Afghanistan.

 

[magra]

Dawn news

Afghanistan's farmers supply the raw material/resin - not final drug sold by drug dealers globally.

So how much did Taliban make, billions or millions, over the past 20 years?

Surely they made enough to fund the insurgency.

Question is what action Pakistan took over these years to stop being the routing point for this illicit trade.

Or did it turn a blind eye as it helped its 'ally' Taliban?

 

[Verve]

Surely they made enough to fund the insurgency.

Question is what action Pakistan took over these years to stop being the routing point for this illicit trade.

Or did it turn a blind eye as it helped its 'ally' Taliban?

You have no evidence, only speculation. Poppy farming was done and expanded under Karzai and Ghani governments, so the question should be asked to them why they did not stop it. Ghani's own constituency (where he won elections from) is full of poppy farming.

Pakistan put up 2800km+ border fence to reduce the smuggling and movement of people including terrorists.

 

[magra]

Pakistan put up 2800km+ border fence to reduce the smuggling and movement of people including terrorists.

Then why as per your own paper, as of July 2021, 40% of Afghan's opium trade happens through Pakistan?
Is the fencing so porous?

 

[Verve]

Is the fencing so porous?

If India can claim terrorists entering Kashmir despite all the fencing and monitoring, throwing a kg or few kgs bag over the 10ft fence is a small effort in comparison.

 

[magra]

If India can claim terrorists entering Kashmir despite all the fencing and monitoring, throwing a kg or few kgs bag over the 10ft fence is a small effort in comparison.

Its not just a one-way one-time transaction of throwing heroin bags over the fence.
That heroin then gets transported all the way to the ports and then shipped to other countries.

So, there have to be a lot of collaborators on Pak side for this to go on smoothly for over 20 yrs.

 

[MH.Yang]

You are being naive sir.

I did not say that farmers are earning a lot from opium, but they do earn a decent amount to feed their families. To make them switch from opium now, you would need to give them an alternative source.

However, the main problem here is the Taliban who has gotten used to getting enormous profits from opium trade. They may stop this trade temporarily for international recognition, but in the long term if they want to stop it, they would need alternate source of earning. Currently, there is no such industry in Afghanistan which can give them such easy money.

Any plans China or other countries may have for mining etc would not start to give results in the near future. Does China plan to fund Taliban in the interim to disincentivize opium trade?

China does not need to send ground troops. The Taliban can provide intelligence, China sends planes to air strikes, and then the Taliban goes to eliminate drug traffickers. After the opium poppy was burned, the Taliban distributed food , money and seed to farmers.

The CIA can get money by controlling drug traffickers, as they did in Mexico. They certainly won't let the Taliban control drug dealers.

 

[khansaheeb]

Drugs and terrorism.

Apart from these two things, everything else can be discussed.

How about human trafficking and Kalashnikov peddling?

 

[MH.Yang]

How about human trafficking and Kalashnikov peddling?

I don't believe that a government will sell its own people, which is illogical.
This is probably done by the aggressors, so the Taliban had gain the support of the Afghan people.
The Taliban should send an investigation team to investigate the CIA's human trafficking.
This is the internal affairs of the Taliban. Taleban will handle his internal affairs.

 

[magra]

China does not need to send ground troops. The Taliban can provide intelligence, China sends planes to air strikes, and then the Taliban goes to eliminate drug traffickers. After the opium poppy was burned, the Taliban distributed food , money and seed to farmers.

Once it gets the recognition it seeks, Taliban will have no further incentive to curb opium trade.

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

Okay. Lets hope China can really help enforce the opium ban and it is not just a temporary promise by Taliban to get international recognition.

Which is not really the problem of China or any nations outside of Afghanistan unless it affects them.

If these countries are so concerned, they should imposed a heavy penalty for such offense like China or most ASEAN nations.
The penalty in these nations is death.

So it is misingenuous of Western nations like Canada or USA to demand the return of their citizens involving in such criminal activities to show to their voters back home that they care.

What do you mean by China enforcement?

Did UN appoints China as an enforcer?

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

Once it gets the recognition it seeks, Taliban will have no further incentive to curb opium trade.

Which will be unfortunate unless you are an Aghan yourself. A Taliban is also an Afghan.

If Taliban do not wish to make the same mistake that they made 20 years ago, they are welcome to test China, Russia or for that matter SCO nations.

IMO they won't.They biggest problem at this moment is the food shortage crisis and only helpful and friendly neighbours can help them.

Keep in mind there are many splinter groups within the Taliban.

They will soon have to perform some housecleaning soon.