KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Chinese government asks the Taliban to respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community regarding the establishment of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.
During an official meeting with Taliban authorities in Beijing on Wednesday, April 17, Liu Jinsong, Director of China’s foreign ministry’s Asian Department, said that China always feels the suffering of the Afghan people and has always done its best to help them.
He said that his country is willing to deepen “high-quality cooperation” with the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Beijing has cultivated the deepest of ties with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan which many observers say amount to de-facto recognition. In January, President Xi Jinping formally received the credentials from a Taliban appointed ambassador followed by his foreign minister meeting Kabul’s dignitary.
“Friends come and go, but neighbors always remain,” Mr. Liu said in his meeting with the Taliban delegation.
The Chinese diplomat noted that since 2021, his country has implemented President Xi Jinping’s proposed concept of amity, which emphasizes sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness, in its dealings with Afghanistan.
“China has adhered to a friendly policy towards all Afghan people, and adhered to the principle of respect for the country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
He also said that during the different regimes in Afghanistan, China has always provided support and assistance for Afghanistan’s peaceful reconstruction and economic development.
Last September, China became the first country to appoint an ambassador to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The new Chinese ambassador officially presented his credentials to the Taliban prime minister, Mullah Hasan Akhund, in Kabul.
Other countries either kept their previous ambassadors in place or appointed the heads of their embassies as chargés d’affaires, a role that does not require presenting credentials to the host government.
Even prior to that, in October last year, the Chinese government invited a Taliban delegation to its global Belt and Road Forum, marking the first significant multilateral gathering the regime attended since returning to power.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, many Chinese companies have shown interest in investing in the country, with several signing significant mining contracts with the Taliban in the last two years.
In January 2023, the Chinese company Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Co (CAPEIC) inked a $540 million deal with the Taliban to extract oil from the Amu Darya basin in northern Afghanistan.
During the Wednesday meeting, the Chinese official noted that bilateral trade between China and Afghanistan hit a record high of $1.33 billion last year, marking a substantial year-on-year increase of 125.4%. Additionally, he said that Afghanistan continuously exported pine nuts worth more than $57 million to China.
Meanwhile, according to the statement, Jalali, Director of the Third Political Department of the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who co-chaired the meeting, expressed the regime’s willingness to enhance friendly relations with China, uphold traditional friendship, and continue supporting China in safeguarding its core interests and achieving national reunification.
This is not the first time China has called on the Taliban to form an inclusive government in Afghanistan. Last year in February, during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the ruling regime in Afghanistan to establish a government that represents all ethnic groups and political parties in the country.
They also asked the Taliban to revoke all discriminatory measures against women, ethnic minorities, and other religious groups in Afghanistan.
