Chinese Official Mocks U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan: ‘The Graveyard of Empires’

BEIJING, CHINA - APRIL 26: Chinese President Xi Jinping proposes a toast during the welcom
Nicolas Asfouri - Pool/Getty Images
Nick Gilbertson

A senior official in the Chinese foreign ministry mocked the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in a tweet that shows a video of Taliban members using an abandoned U.S. plane as a swing.

“The graveyard of EMPIRES and their WAR MACHINES. Talibans have turned their planes into swings and toys” tweeted senior Chinese official Lijian Zhao. 

The video shows members of the Taliban giggling with joy as one man pushes another on a make-shift swing that is tied to the wing of an abandoned military plane.

The United States left behind tens of billions of dollars worth of military equipment amidst the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. servicemembers.

Reportedly, the Taliban have seized 12 tanks, 51 armored fighting vehicles, 1,980 trucks, Jeeps, and vehicles, and 61 artillery mortars. It has been reported that the Taliban is in possession of 48 aircraft, but the functionality of the equipment remains to be seen.

The United States spent roughly $84 billion dollars in equipping and training the Afghanistan military between 2002 and 2018. As the Afghanistan military effectively surrendered to the Taliban, much of the equipment is now in their hands.

The Taliban is now also in possession of ten military facilities that U.S. forces had previously given to the Afghanistan government. It is estimated that Bagram Airfield, which was turned over to Afghan forces on July 1, is worth $565,840,912.

Back in August, China’s Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman also took a shot at the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, stating that the United States should not “interfere in other countries’ internal affairs.”

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