In mid-September, the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry announced that 39 Afghan embassies and consulates around the world answer to it, and not to the remnants of the previous regime, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Given that some governments already had diplomatic ties with the Taliban and that more were likely to follow suit, the news was just one more sign that the brutal regime in Kabul is gaining international acceptance.
By Jim Geraghty
Meanwhile, at the United Nations last month, the General Assembly met with the theme “Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.” Naturally, Taiwan was not allowed to participate in an assembly under the slogan “Leaving no one behind.” Everyone is fearful of a Chinese regime that grows ever more militant in its insistence that Taiwan is part of China and will be taken by force if necessary.
If you want a vivid illustration of why so many Americans shrug at invocations of “the international community,” check out the contrast between the way many countries treat the Taliban and how they treat the democratically elected and independent Taiwanese government. First, there is no cohesive “international community.” Second, that “international community” is full of countries that treat the Taliban a heck of a lot better than they treat Taiwan.
Although no country has formally recognized the Taliban, which seized power in 2021, as Afghanistan’s legitimate government, a whole bunch of countries have given the Taliban de facto recognition.
In March 2022, Russia accredited Taliban diplomat Jamal Nasir Gharwal as Afghan chargé d’affaires in Moscow. In April 2022, China accepted diplomatic credentials from the Taliban, and in September 2023, China became the first country to officially name a new ambassador to Afghanistan. In February 2023, Iran officially handed over the Afghan Embassy in Tehran to diplomats from the Taliban.
You’re probably thinking: Oh, China, Russia, Iran — those are some of the worst regimes on the planet. Of course they’d cozy up with the brutes in Kabul. Game respects game.
But note that just about all of Central Asia has fallen in line, too. In October 2021, Pakistan, a longtime Taliban ally, accepted a regime-appointed diplomat for Afghanistan’s embassy. In April 2022, Turkmenistan handed the Taliban its embassy and consulate. In August, Kazakhstan accepted a new Taliban chargé d’affaires, and other countries in the region went along.
You might say: Oh, most of those countries share a border with Afghanistan. They have no choice but to establish some form of diplomatic communication.
The leaders of other Muslim countries have largely acquiesced to recognizing the Taliban, too, including in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
On and on it goes, with countries in South America and Africa appearing to warm up to the Taliban as well.
Europe is not immune: In July, Bloomberg News reported that Italy was contemplating reopening its embassies in Afghanistan. The article quoted Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, saying, “As soon as there are minimum security conditions, we’ll send our ambassador back.”
What do these caving countries have in common? None of them recognizes the Taiwan government as the leader of an independent nation. Only a handful have any significant relationship with Taiwan.
In fact, while the Taliban is increasingly treated like just another regime, Taiwan is becoming more diplomatically isolated. In December 2021, Nicaragua terminated diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry released a statement in May claiming that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory.”
Just 12 countries have full diplomatic relations with Taiwan: Belize, Eswataini, Guatemala, Haiti, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Paraguay, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu and the Vatican. No offense to any of those countries, but they’re not exactly a geopolitical all-star team. (The United States maintains a strategically ambiguous stance toward Taiwan’s sovereignty and does not recognize the Taliban government.)
In the past two generations, Taiwan successfully transitioned from a one-party state operating under martial law, with some periods of terrible brutality in the early chapters of its short history, to a modern, thriving, multiparty democracy. It isn’t a perfect country, but it gets a lot of the big questions right; Freedom House gives Taiwan a 94 out of a possible 100 in human rights. The United States scored an 83; the Taliban regime managed a 6.
And yet, not only do other countries not recognize Taiwan’s government as legitimate and independent, but international groups such as Interpol, the World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization also exclude Taiwan.
In the end, Taiwan’s championing of human rights and democracy counts for little beside China’s economic power and warnings against recognizing Taiwan’s independence. The Taliban, meanwhile, runs a regime that is especially repressive of women’s rights, but it has access to widely coveted natural resources. For far too many countries, when push comes to shove, that’s what matters.
