Kashi residents enjoy leisure time. Photo: Fan Lingzhi/GT

As the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan draws global attention, Chinese netizens were amazed to find that The Kite Runner, a famous film about Afghanistan, was actually filmed in Northwest China’s Xinjiang region.

Chinese netizens were also swift to catch the irony, as the US has never stopped attacking China’s Xinjiang policy, but the reality has shown just the opposite, as the US’ “democratic reform” in Afghanistan failed miserably, while Xinjiang residents live in peace and prosperity.

The Kite Runner, written by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini, tells the story of a boy named Amir from Kabul as he navigates the world around him. A world mired in events that stretch from the fall of Afghanistan’s Monarchy through the Soviet intervention, to the exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the US and the rise of the Taliban.

Chinese netizens recently found out that the movie, which was adapted from the novel, was actually filmed in China’s Xinjiang region, probably due to unstable security conditions in Afghanistan at that time.

A netizen named ‘Daxiangjunshi’ commented, “How ironic! The movie cannot be filmed in Afghanistan as the US is fighting a war in the country. The movie is filmed in China’s Xinjiang to ‘restage’ the harmoniousness in Kabul but the US is currently racking its brains to smear the region.”

Some netizens posted pictures and videos of Kashi residents’ peaceful lives, including children happily chasing each others in residential areas.

“Compared with the Afghan people who are in a war-torn homeland, people in Kashi – a place that is less than 300 kilometers away from Kabul -- are living happily and peacefully!” A netizen named “Liziba” wrote.

Another netizen named ‘jinghexian’ wrote that “The US will never succeed in destroying our happy lives in Xinjiang region like they did in Afghanistan or other places by spreading lame lies as ‘forced labor’ or ‘genocide!’”