The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Friday that China is leading the effort to prevent the United States from regaining control of Bagram air base in Afghanistan.
The SCMP reported that Yue Xiaoyong, special envoy to Afghanistan from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, held a meeting with delegates from Russia, Pakistan, and Iran on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City on Thursday.
After the meeting, the four nations issued a joint statement urging “respect for Afghanistan’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.”
The statement opposed military bases controlled by anyone the four signatories blamed for the “current situation,” which primarily means the United States. China, Russia, Pakistan, and Iran did not seem inclined to limit themselves from establishing a military presence in Afghanistan, if they so desired.
The airfield at Bagram was constructed by the Soviet Union in the 1950s. It became a key element of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. The U.S. took control of the long-abandoned facility in 2001, after overthrowing the first Taliban government.
American forces refurbished and expanded the base, providing it with enough runway space to handle large cargo planes, a prison complex, and various amenities, including fast-food restaurants.
President Donald Trump has been strongly critical of his predecessor Joe Biden for abandoning Bagram during Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in July 2021. Senior military leaders told Congress they strongly advised Biden to retain control of Bagram and conduct evacuations from there, rather than the more vulnerable Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Terrorists bombed the Kabul airport during the chaos of Biden’s withdrawal, killing over 100 people, including 13 U.S. service members.
During his trip to the United Kingdom last week, Trump said he wanted the United States to regain control of Bagram, and he was not shy about explaining why.
“One of the biggest airbases in the world, we gave it to them for nothing. We’re trying to get it back, by the way, okay? That could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back,” Trump told reporters. By “they,” he meant the Taliban junta that took control of Afghanistan after Biden’s withdrawal.
“But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons. So a lot of things are happening,” he said.
“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” Trump warned in a subsequent post on Truth Social.
Bagram is about 43 miles from Kabul, and about 500 miles from Afghanistan’s border with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China. Among the facilities located in the XUAR is China’s secretive nuclear weapons testing facility at Lop Nur.
Trump later told reporters aboard Air Force One that Bagram was “one of the most powerful bases in the world in terms of runway strength and length.”
“You could land anything there,” he said.
Trump made his comments a few days after White House envoy Adam Boehler had a meeting with Taliban officials. The Taliban praised the meeting as a sign that Washington has “opened its doors to Kabul.”
Taliban Foreign Ministry official Zakir Jalaly quickly dismissed the idea of giving Bagram back to the United States, however.
“The Afghans have not accepted a military presence in history, and this possibility was completely rejected during the Doha talks and agreement, but the door is open for further interaction,” he said.
“Recently, some voices claim that we are in talks with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to negotiate the return of Bagram Airfield, or that we are seeking a political settlement after failing to take it by force. We assure the people of Afghanistan that no agreement over even an inch of our soil is possible,” said Fasihuddin Fitrat, chief of staff for the Taliban’s Ministry of Defense.
The reclusive Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, reportedly scheduled a cabinet meeting in Kandahar to discuss the future of the Bagram airbase.
This would seem unnecessary if the answer to Trump’s demand is firm and unyielding refusal, but Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid insisted no discussions are underway to make a deal for access to the base.
“Afghans will never surrender part of their country to another government. If the Trump administration makes a bad move, it will face a bad reaction from us,” Mujahid said.
