CALLS FOR TALIBAN SPONSERS, LIKE CHINA, TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR AFGHAN MILITANT CRIMES:

China has supplied weapons and logistical support to the Taliban for decades, and American presidents have ignored Beijing’s ties to the group, even when those weapons were used against American and NATO forces. China’s embassy in Kabul has remained open in recent days, a sign Beijing worked out an arrangement with the Taliban during the swift failure of the Afghan government. Senior figures from the terror-harboring group, including co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar, met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Chinese city of Tianjin on July 28. American intelligence officials believe Beijing will recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan soon. China’s ties with the Taliban go back before 9/11. According to U.S. intelligence officials speaking without attribution to the Washington Times, Huawei Technologies and Zhongxing Telecom, also known as ZTE, were working on the telecom system in Kabul for two years prior to that horrific event. On Sept. 18, 2001, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said, "China does not have any kind of formal relations with the Taliban." Beijing’s ties with the group, he said, were on "the working level," and he labeled reports that China was building telecom networks and dams for the Taliban as "unfounded rumors."