Chinese President Xi Jinping's call to target humanitarian and political issues in Afghanistan stands to positively impact the country's challenges and regional development, according to Wahidullah Ghazikhel, an Afghan political analyst.
President Xi advocated for a broad-based and inclusive political structure in Afghanistan as well as platforms to increase humanitarian support for the Middle Eastern country while speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Ghazikhel, a senior journalist and researcher for the Center for Strategic Studies and Research, a think tank in Afghanistan, highlighted the significance of Xi's remarks for the country and the region. (https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE96R056/)
"As a member of the Security Council, as a neighbor of Afghanistan, it's very important to hear President Xi's speech in the SCO. He pointed to two things, humanitarian aid and political crisis in Afghanistan. But fortunately, he pointed to both things. A stable Afghanistan is good for the region, especially for the neighbor countries. We urge China to be more active in the political process of Afghanistan and to help more, and encourage other countries to be partners in Afghanistan's political process," he said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
The analyst also expressed appreciation for the support from China and around the world on various issues, hoping their involvement would contribute to Afghanistan's stability.
"In every format or every conference on Afghanistan, we appreciate them, that still Afghanistan is not forgotten by neighbor countries, by superpowers like Russia, like China, other neighbor countries, regional countries, Central Asia. And definitely, they helped a lot with Afghanistan in trade, in humanitarian aid, in political processes, and China and Russia have a main role in the Security Council. You know that an unstable Afghanistan is not good for the region, for the neighbor countries and China and Russia and Central Asia, they can play a good role in Afghanistan," he continued.
Since its inception in China's Shanghai in 2001, the SCO has grown from a regional organization with six members to a trans-regional body with 10 full members, two observer countries, and 14 dialogue partners.
The two-day 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or the SCO summit, concluded in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, on Thursday, with the adoption of the Astana Declaration and 25 strategic documents covering areas from energy to counter-terrorism.
Xi's focus on humanitarian, political issues in Afghanistan highly welcomed: Afghan analyst
Visiting boundary markers seems to have become a new trend in holiday-making on frontier regions in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province neighboring Russia so far in the week-long National Day holiday that started on October 1.
At the border gateways and boundary monuments on the 2,981-kilometer frontier in Heilongjiang, tourists from all over the country are seen stopping to have photos taken with the boundary monuments or markers, with some listening to stories told by frontier police officers about past events associated with the frontier regions.
In China, the National Day holiday is a peak travel and tourism season.
Lying in the easternmost point of China is the Wusu Town Dongji Square in Fuyuan City of Heilongjiang Province. Next to the huge sculpture bearing the Chinese character of "East" in the square, the five-star Chinese national flag is fluttering in the wind. Just beside the national flag is a boundary monument, which has become an attraction to visitors.
Many of the visitors say that having a picture taken with the boundary monument on the occasion of the National Day holiday would make them feel honored about happy powerful their motherland is.
Li Xin, a police officer with the Wusu Town Border Police Station on duty at the Dongji Square, said he has felt the enthusiasm of visitors.
Li said that the number of tourists visiting the Doingji Square so far in the National Day holiday has doubled compared to the same period of last year.
In Mohe, the northernmost city in China which is more than 2,000 kilometers away from Dongji, visitors are also seen flocking to the Beiji (North Pole) Village to have pictures taken with the local boundary marker.
Zhang Jiale, a police officer with the Arctic Border Police Station in Mohe, expressed the same feeling as Li Xin.
In Suifenhe, another frontier city in Heilongjiang, tourists also seen enthusiastically flocking to the boundary monument beside the third-generation border gateway to have pictures taken with it. The Suifenhe Gateway Scenic Spot is located at the zero point of Suifenhe Highway Port G10 Suiman Expressway, the largest land port to Russia in Heilongjiang Province. It is the only longitudinal cross-border scenic spot in China and the only one that integrates three generations of border gateways in China's gateway scenic spots.
In this scenic spot, tourists frequently ask Wang Jiaxing, a police officer with the Suifenhe Entry-Exit Border Checkpoint on duty, to help take photos or ask about how to make a tourist travel to the neighboring country.
Ke Zunlei, a tourist from Shanghai, visited the site with his wife and young daughter.
"Standing at a frontier region of my own country, I feel that this place is quite sacred," Ke said.
In Hutou Township of Jixi City in the province, the boundary marker "292-1-2014," which marks the starting point of the Wusuli River between China and Russia, also attracts many visitors to make a visit and take photos.
Visiting boundary markers becomes new trend in China's National Day holiday travel
