Afghanistan envoy to China Javid Ahmad Qaem resigns after months without pay

Afghanistan Ambassador to China Javid Ahmad Qaem resigned from his post on Sunday, citing personal and professional issues. Taking to Twitter, Qaem revealed that the embassy staff had not been paid for months. He detailed how he had to scrape cash from the embassy’s bank account to pay staff after the Taliban took over Afghanistan last August.  

"Since we did not receive salaries from Kabul for the last six months, we assigned a committee from within the diplomats to solve the financial issues," Qaem wrote in a letter to foreign ministry in Afghanistan dated January 1 but posted to social media on Monday.

He informed that he has left some funds for his successor, adding that “as of today, 1st January 2022, there is around $100,000 left in the account.”

The diplomat revealed that the Chinese embassy in Afghanistan is barely functioning. He said that the diplomats assigned by the previous administration were not interested in continuing at their position after August 15, when the Taliban seized Kabul. Qaem added that several Afghan diplomats have abandoned their Beijing posting since the fall of Kabul and have already left China. 

"I believe when the new person assigned, Mr Sadaat, arrives to Beijing, there will be no other diplomat left," the letter said, adding that China had been "well-informed".

Afghanistan diplomatic agencies on brink of closure

Further, Qaem informed that he had left the keys for the embassy’s five cars in his office and that a lone local hire had been assigned to answer queries after all the other diplomats left. He said that he would lock all the doors and windows of the embassy and residence and give the keys to the Embassy of Qatar in Beijing. Qaem also went on to add that he has paid all local staff up to 20th January 2022, and their jobs are now finished. 

It is not clear yet who will be Qaem's successor. But it is to mention that China has provided millions to Afghanistan and aid since the takeover. The new militant regime sees Beijing as a crucial source of investment. However, their government is still not recognised by any nation.

This is the second time that an Afghan ambassador resigned from his post after the Taliban regained power in Kabul in mid-August last year. Previously, Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the UN had stepped down. Notably, the majority of the nation’s diplomatic agencies are on the brink of closure as they have run out of financial resources. 

(Image: Twitter/AP)