Ahead of the government formation in Afghanistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he hopes that the new establishment will be open and inclusive, and disassociate itself from terror groups.
Beijing [China], September 4 : The Chinese minister made the remarks during a phone call on Friday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Global Times reported. This statement on Afghanistan comes a few days after a senior Chinese leader informed the group that Beijing would maintain their embassy in Kabul. After the US exit from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s take over of the country, China is concerned about a possible revival of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), its cross-border agitation and terrorism in the Xinjiang region. The ETIM, also known as the Turkistan Islamic Movement, is an ethnic Uighur group active in Afghanistan that has long sought to achieve independence for Xinjiang, which it envisions as a future “East Turkestan.” Previously, China had conveyed to the visiting Taliban delegation that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) poses a direct threat to its national security and territorial integrity and combating the ETIM is a common responsibility for the international community. Chinese Foreign Minister had delivered this message to Head of the Afghan Taliban Political Commission Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar during their meeting in Tianjin. “We hope the Afghan Taliban will make a clean break with all terrorist organizations including the ETIM and resolutely and effectively combat them to remove obstacles, play a positive role and create enabling conditions for security, stability, development and cooperation in the region,” the Chinese readout had said. Meanwhile, the Taliban has stated that it will primarily rely on financing from China for an economic comeback in Afghanistan. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in an interview Italian newspaper, published earlier this month, said the Taliban will fight for an economic comeback with the help of China. “China is our most important partner and represents a fundamental and extraordinary opportunity for us, because it is ready to invest and rebuild our country,” the Taliban spokesperson was quoted as saying in the interview, reported Al Jazeera. He said the New Silk Road – an infrastructure initiative with which China wants to increase its global influence by opening up trade routes – was held in “high regard” by the Taliban. There are “rich copper mines in the country, which, thanks to the Chinese, can be put back into operation and modernised. In addition, China is our pass to markets all over the world.”
