Ahmad Zia Saraj, head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, confirmed in parliament yesterday that a group of Chinese nationals have been arrested on suspicion of spying in Kabul. It is reported that under pressure from Beijing, Afghanistan has allowed the men to return to China.
After the media reported late last year that Afghanistan had arrested 10 Chinese in Kabul on suspicion of espionage and terrorist activities, the Hindustan Times reported today that Saraj, head of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, confirmed in parliament yesterday that Afghanistan had indeed arrested a group of Chinese on suspicion of espionage.
But Saraj said, “Since this is a sensitive issue, I can’t give details.
The newspaper quoted official sources as saying that under pressure from Beijing, the Afghan authorities had allowed the 10 Chinese suspected of espionage and terrorist activities to return to China, where they were flown back on a special flight arranged by the Chinese Communist Party authorities on the 2nd.
The Hindustan Times previously reported that Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who was the head of Afghanistan’s Intelligence Bureau, was authorized by the president to meet with the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yu, to explain the status of the 10 Chinese detainees, asking Beijing to formally apologize and admit to violating international norms and betraying Kabul’s trust, and that the Afghan government could consider pardoning the 10 Chinese communist spies, otherwise criminal proceedings would continue.
The Afghan Vice President Shahre (pictured) asked Beijing for a formal apology when he was authorized by the president to brief the Chinese Communist Party ambassador in Kabul, Wang Yu, on the status of the 10 Chinese detainees late last year.
But under pressure from Beijing, Afghanistan does not seem to have stuck to its original demand, and some analysts say it is also possible that the two sides have other private deals.
Among the 10 Chinese arrested were two Han Chinese, Li Yangyang and Sha Hung, and eight Uighurs, according to sources who told the Central News Agency.
The Hindustan Times previously cited sources with links to Afghan authorities as saying that Afghan security agencies had concluded that two Han Chinese led by eight Uighurs were trying to establish a fake Eastern Turkista n Islamic Movement (ETIM) group in Afghanistan and to frame ETIM and Uighur human rights activists through terrorist activities.
Investigators found that the spy team led by Li Yang Yang and Xia Hong was linked to the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of State Security and had been in contact with the Haqqani network, a major force behind the Taliban, an Afghan militia.
While the Chinese Communist Party has denied supporting terrorist activities by terrorist groups in the past, this case in Afghanistan involving a spy cell of the Chinese Ministry of State Security that maintains links with terrorist groups and possesses tools for terrorist activities, such as explosives, confirms India’s past allegations that the Chinese Communist Party and Pakistan have been in contact with terrorist groups and support terrorism.
The East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a group of Uighurs in Xinjiang seeking independence from the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian rule. Beijing has been using ETIM as an excuse to restrict the freedom of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and the United States only recently removed ETIM from the list of terrorist organizations.
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