‘Afghanistan will not be base for separatists’
Taliban delegation visits China for talks
BEIJING: A top-level Taliban delegation visiting China yesterday assured Beijing the group will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for plotting against another country.
The delegation is in Beijing for talks with officials as the insurgents continue a sweeping offensive across Afghanistan – including areas along their shared border.
Their frontier is just 76km long – and at a rugged high altitude – but Beijing fears Afghanistan could be used as a staging ground for Uyghur separatists in Xinjiang.
Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem told AFP those concerns were unfounded.
“The Islamic Emirate assured China that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used against any country’s security.”
“They (China) promised not to interfere in Afghanistan’s affairs, but instead help to solve problems and bring peace.”
Beijing confirmed the thrust of the talks, which were led on the Chinese side by Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
But in Kabul, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani urged the international community “to review the narrative of the willingness of the Taliban and their supporters on embracing a political solution”.
g, we are facing an invasion that is unprecedented in the last 30 years,” he warned in a speech yesterday.
“These are not the Taliban of the 20th century ... but the manifestation of the nexus between transnational terrorist networks and transnational criminal organisations.”
Analysts say China, whose stated foreign policy position is non-interference in other countries’ issues, is queasy about the Taliban given their proximity to Xinjiang province.
But the meeting gifts legitimacy to an insurgent group craving international recognition – and a potential diplomatic shield at the UN – to match their military march across the nation.
“Wang Yi pointed out, the Afghan Taliban is a crucial military and political force in Afghanistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
“China has throughout adhered to non-interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs ... Afghanistan belongs to the Afghan people,” he said, in stark contrast to the “failure of US policy towards Afghanistan”.
“Afghan people have an important opportunity to stabilise and develop their own country,” said Zhao.
Meanwhile, Australia-based Afghanistan expert Nishank Motwani said, “When other countries open up their doors and engage with the Taliban it undercuts the legitimacy of the Afghan government and presents the Taliban almost as a government-in-in waiting”.
The nine-member Taliban team in China is led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. – AFP
Taliban delegation visits China for talks
BEIJING: A top-level Taliban delegation visiting China yesterday assured Beijing the group will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a base for plotting against another country.
The delegation is in Beijing for talks with officials as the insurgents continue a sweeping offensive across Afghanistan – including areas along their shared border.
Their frontier is just 76km long – and at a rugged high altitude – but Beijing fears Afghanistan could be used as a staging ground for Uyghur separatists in Xinjiang.
Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem told AFP those concerns were unfounded.
“The Islamic Emirate assured China that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used against any country’s security.”
“They (China) promised not to interfere in Afghanistan’s affairs, but instead help to solve problems and bring peace.”
Beijing confirmed the thrust of the talks, which were led on the Chinese side by Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
But in Kabul, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani urged the international community “to review the narrative of the willingness of the Taliban and their supporters on embracing a political solution”.
g, we are facing an invasion that is unprecedented in the last 30 years,” he warned in a speech yesterday.
“These are not the Taliban of the 20th century ... but the manifestation of the nexus between transnational terrorist networks and transnational criminal organisations.”
Analysts say China, whose stated foreign policy position is non-interference in other countries’ issues, is queasy about the Taliban given their proximity to Xinjiang province.
But the meeting gifts legitimacy to an insurgent group craving international recognition – and a potential diplomatic shield at the UN – to match their military march across the nation.
“Wang Yi pointed out, the Afghan Taliban is a crucial military and political force in Afghanistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters.
“China has throughout adhered to non-interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs ... Afghanistan belongs to the Afghan people,” he said, in stark contrast to the “failure of US policy towards Afghanistan”.
“Afghan people have an important opportunity to stabilise and develop their own country,” said Zhao.
Meanwhile, Australia-based Afghanistan expert Nishank Motwani said, “When other countries open up their doors and engage with the Taliban it undercuts the legitimacy of the Afghan government and presents the Taliban almost as a government-in-in waiting”.
The nine-member Taliban team in China is led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. – AFP
