President Ashraf Ghani with President Xi Jinping
7 January 2021
Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) detained 10 Chinese nationals on 10 December 2020 for espionage. The spies had been in touch with the Haqqani Network, the terrorist group backed by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, an arm of the Taliban. At least one woman among those detained is believed to be linked to China’s spy agency, Ministry of State Security. They were held in custody for only 23 days. According to a Hindustan Times report they were flown out of the country in a plane arranged by the Chinese government with approval from President Ashraf Ghani.
It is believed that the spies were released on assurance from Chinese authorities that these spies will be go on trial in China. Common sense tells us that this will never happen because the spies were sent by the Chinese government. President Ashraf Ghani also knows this too well. But he is helpless because he is beholden to Xi Jinping.
The security and intelligence committee of Afghanistan’s House of Representatives on Wednesday accused the Afghan government of violating the law for allowing Chinese spies to leave the country without proper investigation.
According to Khan Agha Rezayee, a lawmaker, the Presidential Palace swiftly took control of the spies and did not allow the Afghan intelligence agencies to launch an investigation.
In the past China has been accused of spreading ‘debt traps’ but now it is involved in ‘spy traps’.
Pakistan is already under Chinese influence. Then why should China want to infiltrate the Pakistani terrorist group in Afghanistan. They could very well do it in Pakistan. It may probably be due to the presence of American forces in Afghanistan. China may be attempting to get information about the American troops before their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
tolonnews.com reported.
