CCTV Network’s video released to play down Taliban's ties to terrorism, deleted after criticism.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported today (18th August 2021) that China’s China Central Television (CCTV) Network released a video introducing the Taliban on 16th, which downplayed the relationship between the Taliban and terrorism, triggering criticism from Chinese netizens. According to the online backup video, CCTV said the Taliban was born during the civil war in Afghanistan, and its members were mainly students from refugee camps, initially there were only 800 people, because of the support of the Afghan poor, their strength expanded rapidly. The film also said that the Taliban armed forces captured Kabul in 1996 to establish the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan; after 9/11, the Taliban regime was overthrown by the United States, starting a 20-year war.

The video was once ranked fifth on Weibo's top ten search list, and prompted many netizens to question it. Some people criticized the film for not mentioning terrorism, while others asked the Taliban, "Is that the one who blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas?"

A Beijing resident surnamed Guo said in an interview with Radio Free Asia on the 17th that his impression was that the Taliban in Afghanistan had provided a hideout for Osama bin Laden, the fugitive mastermind of 9/11, and not a refugee organization. He said, "In my early image, the Taliban is an international terrorist organization, and there are terrorist activities on the border and within Afghanistan."

Source: RFI #Aug18

https://rfi.my/7fQo.f

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