Illustration. The Beijing-based smartphone giant sued the government earlier this year, after the US Department of Defense under former President Donald Trump issued an order designating the company as a Chinese military company. This will result in the deletion of US exchanges and deletion of names from global benchmark indices. The US Department of Defense has now agreed that the final order ignores the designation “would be appropriate,” according to a filing filed in US courts on May 11. Hong Kong-listed Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon representative was not immediately available for comment. Shares of Xiaomi rose 6.7% during the session in Hong Kong on May 12. “The parties have agreed to a direction that will resolve this lawsuit without the need for a controversial press conference,” according to the filing. Stakeholders are negotiating specific terms and will submit a joint proposal by May 20. Xiaomi, which makes robot vacuums, electric bicycles and wearable devices along with smartphones, was an unexpected target for the Trump administration. Co-founded by billionaire businessman Lei Jun more than 10 years ago, with US chip technology company Qualcomm as one of the earliest investors, Xiaomi insists it is not owned or controlled by the Chinese military. National. The deal comes after a US court in March sided with Xiaomi in the lawsuit and halted the ban. US regional judge Rudolph Contreras said at the time that Xiaomi was likely to gain a complete reversal of the ban once the lawsuit opened and issued an initial order to prevent the company from suffering “irreparable damages. “. The deal marks a rare victory for China’s tech giants to get caught in the sights of the US government, as the two countries clash on issues ranging from trade to human rights and the right to rule. of Hong Kong. In November, Mr. Trump signed a ban on US investment in military-owned or controlled Chinese companies aimed at exerting pressure on Beijing over what the US describes as abusive businesses. use. The order against Xiaomi, along with a number of other Chinese companies, was issued during the weak days of his administration. Trump has also pursued other Chinese giants including ByteDance, owner of popular video-sharing app TikTok and Tencent Holdings, which owns the WeChat super app. Telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co was hit hardest after it was banned from buying US-made parts and shutting down infrastructure projects around the world.

This decision is made in the context of the deadline to withdraw troops under the peace agreement that the Trump administration signed with the Taliban last year is about to take effect on May 1 here. A senior Biden administration official told the AP news agency that the September withdrawal deadline was appropriate and would not be affected by domestic security conditions.

Although President Biden’s decision to keep US troops in Afghanistan for four more months than originally planned, it will ultimately end a two-decade war that has left more than 2,200 soldiers. The United States was killed, 20,000 people injured and it cost about $ 1 trillion.

The purpose of President Joe Biden’s 9/11 selection is to highlight the reason why the United States is pouring troops into Afghanistan: to prevent al-Qaeda from turning the West Asian nation into a springboard to attack America. . Photo: AP

Military officials and commanders have once made harsh protests about the Trump administration’s May 1 deadline, saying that the US withdrawal should be based on field security conditions in Afghanistan, including: including Taliban attacks.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Mr. Biden had taken a position on “the next steps to take in Afghanistan, including the plan and timing of the withdrawal”.

Ms Psaki did not provide details, but said President Biden “was consistent in the view that there would not be a military solution in Afghanistan, and that the US military has been there for too long.”

Mr. Biden will also visit Arlington National Cemetery “to pay homage to the brave men and women who have died in Afghanistan.”

According to the Biden administration’s withdrawal plan, the only US force that will remain in Afghanistan is the security force protecting the diplomatic mission. There is no exact figure on the total number of US troops in Afghanistan, but some senior officials have tacitly admitted that the actual number is more than 2,500 people, which will include special operations forces with secret missions. secret or anti-terrorism, intelligence agents.

The timeline set by President Biden will allow the US to proceed with a safer and more orderly withdrawal, with the coordination of NATO allies.

However, it is not excluded that the Taliban will retaliate against US forces in Afghanistan. This could become the risk of escalating tensions again, as well as stemming from further political divisions in the US since the country sank into the “endless war” in Afghanistan.

Mixed reaction

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said: “The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is a serious mistake. It is avoidance when faced with an enemy that has not been destroyed and the surrender of American leadership.

Republican Senator Jim Inhofe also rated it as a “reckless and dangerous decision.”

The majority of Democrats support this decision of President Biden. Sen. Jack Reed said the May 1 deadline for former President Donald Trump limited Mr. Biden’s options.

“The United States also has important interests in combating possible terrorist attacks in this region, but other hotspots should also be considered,” Reed said.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said that US military forces in Afghanistan should be returned home and the US must focus on rebuilding national security in the face of more pressing challenges.

Speaking to TIME magazine, Mr. David Sedney – a former Pentagon official under President Barack Obama, called this a “foolish strategy, a humanitarian disaster and worthy of moral condemnation.” virtue.

An Afghan official said the US administration’s decision to unconditionally withdraw troops was a shock to the Ashraf Ghani administration, as well as causing the Kabul government to lose its leveraged negotiating card with the Taliban. .

According to the Washington Post, the decision to unconditionally withdraw troops after a series of short but unsuccessful diplomatic efforts has raised concerns.

“This move will likely reverse the economic, political – social progress that the US has fought to protect during the past two decades in Afghanistan,” according to the editorial board of the Washington Post. “This is the tragedy for the 39 million people of the West Asian nation when the US chooses to give up the people here who once hoped to build a democracy, guaranteeing basic human rights”.

In addition, the withdrawal of all US military forces will likely allow al-Qaeda to restore its bases in Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed told the Associated Press that the force is waiting for official announcement from the US administration to give a suitable response. The Taliban had previously issued warnings of “consequences” if the US extended its withdrawal period on May 1.

In a February 2020 deal with the administration of former US President Donald Trump, the Taliban agreed to stop the attacks and hold peace talks with the Afghan government, in exchange for US commitment. on full withdrawal by May 2021.

Over the past year, US military commanders and defense officials have said that attacks on the country’s military have largely ended, but Taliban’s attacks on Afghan people have increased.

They argue that the Taliban have failed to meet the conditions of the peace deal by continuing to attack people and have not completely severed ties with al-Qaeda and other extremist groups.

When he took office earlier this year, Mr. Biden was well aware of the upcoming withdrawal deadline and consulted with defense security advisers and his allies.

In recent weeks, US President Joe Biden’s views have become clearer. “It will be very difficult to meet the May 1 deadline,” he said in March. “If the US withdraws its troops, it will be done safely and in an orderly manner.”

According to Reuters, Mr. Biden decided to withdraw his troops from Afghanistan before 9/11/2021, exactly 20 years after the terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda sparked the prolonged war of the US and its NATO ally in the country. This southwest Asia.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin officially announced the decision to allies in the NATO bloc in Brussels during the meeting on April 14.

“After careful policy review, President Biden decided to withdraw the remaining number of troops in Afghanistan and eventually end the US war after 20 years,” said a State Department official.

US forces in Afghanistan.

Thus, this new decision shows that the previous withdrawal plan (May 1), which was signed by the administration of former President Donald Trump with the Taliban, could not be implemented. In response, a Taliban spokesman warned there would be consequences if the United States did not comply with the said deadline.

The Taliban are said to have been largely in compliance with their promise not to attack troops from the United States and other countries since the deal was signed, but stressed that things will change as the US pulls back from 9/11.

The Afghan peace process has already fallen to a standstill as peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban forces in the Qatar capital, Doha, stalled.

The US advocates to promote peace negotiations between the governments of Afghanistan and the Taliban before the last 2,500 troops of the country’s army must leave Afghanistan.

Washington wants the Afghan and Taliban governments to strike some power-sharing arrangements. Recently, the Taliban rejected the proposal of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to hold elections this year.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the process had pushed the nation on the brink of crisis. Any decisions regarding Afghanistan’s future need to be reached in bilateral negotiations.

Assessing the decision to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan on September 11, experts said that this decision will put NATO in a difficult position.

When the US administration under President Trump decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by May 1 deadline, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that Afghanistan was in danger of becoming a defeated IS base. Syria and Iraq.

Although admitting that NATO has been fighting in Afghanistan for too long, Stoltenberg said that it is not time to leave, while the withdrawal needs the coordination of the parties. American forces make up a small number of NATO troops in Afghanistan, but the alliance is heavily dependent on the United States for air transport, logistics and support.

The US withdrawal also raises questions about the possibility of the remaining countries pulling out. NATO began operating there in 2003, two years after the US-led coalition came to deal with the Taliban following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

But it is hard to say that NATO has fulfilled its original goal of “ensuring that it will never be a safe haven for international terrorists”. In the future, the continued stay of NATO will also face many difficulties, while withdrawal is undesirable by many parties, when the goal is not reached and the risk of terrorism will become even more haunted.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has rejected the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan before ending talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Maas also criticized the early US unilateral withdrawal of troops from the South Asian country that could jeopardize peace negotiations.

Considering that peace negotiations are very complicated and cannot be ended as scheduled, Minister Heiko Maas stated: “If the US withdraws its forces while other NATO allies cannot take over security in in the short term, the situation will become extremely volatile. “