China Keen on Afghan Reconstruction, but Not Helping US: Times

China will be keen to restore order in Afghanistan and promote reconstruction, but it has no obligation to help the U.S. get out of the "total disaster," the Global Times said in an editorial after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which the newspaper said was the U.S. call for help to remedy the chaos it left in Afghanistan. Whether Beijing will help Washington depends on how the U.S. will act around China and cooperation must be mutually beneficial, the government-owned newspaper said. If any intended cooperation favours the U.S., Beijing will have to make Washington concede in some other area as reciprocity, the newspaper said. The U.S. is retreating from the Greater Middle East while strengthening its strategic structure around China, so China is not going to give the U.S. a hand, the newspaper said.