Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar
Beijing: On July 28, 2021 State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with the visiting delegation led by head of the Afghan Taliban political committee Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Tianjin. The heads of the Afghan Taliban’s religious committee and publicity committee were also on the delegation. On the same day, Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao held talks with Baradar and other representatives to exchange views on issues of shared concern, which, China claimed helped enhance mutual understanding and broaden consensus.
After the conclusion of the talks with Taliban, China today stated that it hoped the Afghan Taliban will make a clean break with all terrorist organizations including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) – a group affiliated with al-Qaeda that has sought to establish a Uyghur state in Xinjiang and has helped move fighters across Afghanistan’s border into China and resolutely and effectively combat them to remove obstacles for security, stability, development and cooperation in the region.
“The ETIM is a terrorist organization designated by the UN and is a common enemy of the international community. China will continue to work with regional countries and the international community to fulfil the shared responsibility of fighting the ETIM until the evil is rooted out. We hope the Afghan Taliban can earnestly honour its commitment that it will never allow any force to use the Afghan territory to engage in acts detrimental to China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press conference today.
Holding the USA as the “culprit of the Afghan issue and the major external factor that can influence the situation,” Lijian said even as the US started the Afghan war in the name of fighting terrorism 20 years ago, even today, terrorist forces in Afghanistan remain rampant and peace still hasn’t come.
“The hasty withdrawal of the US and NATO forces from Afghanistan marks the complete failure of the Afghan policy of the US. It must shoulder responsibility for what it has done and mustn’t shift the blame and responsibility to others and simply take to its heels. It needs to take concrete actions to prevent the terrorist forces from festering and make sure the withdrawal doesn’t lead to turbulence and fighting. It also needs to play its due role in peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan,” Lijian said.
Western commentators have attributed China hosting Taliban leaders to Beijing’s long nurtured ambition to play a larger diplomatic role in Afghanistan which was till now overshadowed by the US. There are conjectures on China now seeking to be a mediator between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Regarding China according a warm welcome to the Taliban delegation on its two day visit, Lijian said he had hopes that the Afghan Taliban will put the interests of the country and nation first, hold high the banner of peace talks, set the goal of peace, build a positive image, follow an inclusive policy, return to the political mainstream in moderate ways, and play an important role in the peace, reconciliation and reconstruction process.
“Following the “Afghan-owned and Afghan-led” principle, China has all along been promoting peace talks and facilitating the peace and reconciliation process on the basis of fully respecting Afghanistan’s sovereignty and the will of parties to the talks. This is also the major objective China has in mind by receiving the Afghan Taliban delegation. As a military and political force to be reckoned with in Afghanistan, the Afghan Taliban has in recent years maintained dialogue and contact with the Afghan government and the international community. China will continue to uphold an objective and just position and play a constructive role in advancing the political settlement of the Afghan issue,” he said.
China said it hopes that all factions and ethnic groups in Afghanistan will be united and establish through dialogue and negotiation a broad-based and inclusive political framework in keeping with their national realities so as to create a future together for Afghanistan.”China, as Afghanistan’s largest neighbour, follows closely the trajectory of the Afghan situation and always supports the peace and reconciliation process .We sincerely hope that the Afghan people will grasp the historical opportunity and truly take the nation’s destiny into their own hands,” Lijian said.
Earlier on July 28, Taliban leader Baradar while expressing appreciation for the opportunity to visit China, had called China a reliable friend and commended China’s “just and positive” role in Afghanistan’s peace and reconciliation process.
Lijian, in a press conference yesterday, had quoted Biradar, saying the Afghan Taliban has the utmost sincerity to work toward and realize peace and it stands ready to work with other parties to establish a political framework in Afghanistan that is broadly-based, inclusive and accepted by the entire Afghan people and to protect human rights, especially rights of women and children.
“The Afghan Taliban will never allow any force to use the Afghan territory to engage in acts detrimental to China. The Afghan Taliban believe that Afghanistan should develop friendly relations with neighbouring countries and the international community. It hopes that China will be more involved in Afghanistan’s peace and reconciliation process and play a bigger role in the future reconstruction and economic development. The Afghan Taliban will also make its own efforts toward fostering an enabling investment environment,” Biradar was quoted as saying by the Chinese authorities yesterday.
– global bihari bureau
