China urges U.S. to lift asset freeze, unilateral sanctions on Afghanistan

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United States seized Afghan assets without the consent of the Afghan people, which is tantamount to robbery, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday, urging the U.S. to lift the freeze.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a press briefing when asked to comment on the executive order signed by U.S. President Joe Biden regarding the 7 billion U.S. dollar frozen assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan.

Without the consent of the Afghan people, the U.S. willfully disposes of assets that belong to the Afghan people, even keeping them as its own. "This is no different from the conduct of bandits," Wang said.

This latest example has once again laid bare that the "rules-based order" the U.S. claims to champion is not the kind of rules and order to defend the weak and uphold justice, but to maintain its own hegemony, Wang noted.

As the culprit of the Afghan crisis, the U.S. should not exacerbate the suffering of the Afghan people, he said.

It should unfreeze their assets, lift unilateral sanctions on Afghanistan as soon as possible, and assume its due responsibility to ease the humanitarian crisis in the country, said the spokesperson.