People walk on the street in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Aug. 31, 2021.(Photo: Xinhua)

Is maintaining the Chinese embassy in Kabul a signal that the Taliban regime is recognized? A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded at Friday's media briefing, saying that the new Afghan government is yet to be established, and China is closely monitoring the situation. 

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the Chinese embassy in Afghanistan is an important channel for China-Afghanistan exchanges and is currently operating normally, and China sincerely hopes that all parties in Afghanistan will conform to the aspirations of their own people and the expectations of the international community, build an open and inclusive political structure, pursue moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, completely break away with all kinds of terrorist organizations, and maintain friendly relations with other countries, especially neighboring countries. 

Wang's remarks were made after Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen posted tweets following a phone conversation between Chinese and Taliban officials on Thursday. The Taliban spokesman tweeted that both sides discussed the ongoing situation of Afghanistan and future relations, and that Chinese assistant foreign minister said China would "maintain their embassy in Kabul" and "relations would beef up as compared to the past." 

Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao had a phone call with Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy head of the Taliban's political office on Thursday. 

Afghan Taliban will never allow any forces to use Afghan territory to threaten China's interests, and will take measures to ensure the safety of Chinese agencies and personnel in Afghanistan, Hanafi said. 

Wu said the situation in Afghanistan has seen a fundamental change, and the future and destiny of Afghanistan is once again in the hands of the Afghan people.

China has always respected the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and has pursued a friendly policy toward the Afghan people, Wu said.

He said he hopes that Afghanistan will achieve peace and stability and rebuild their homeland as soon as possible.

The China proposed Belt and Road Initiative cooperation is conducive to the development and prosperity of Afghanistan and across region, and Afghanistan looks to further earnestly support and participate in the cooperation, Hanafi said, noting that China is a trustworthy friend of Afghanistan, and Taliban is willing to further engage in developing the friendly relations with China.

In response to whether China will accept Afghan refugees, FM spokesperson Wang said on Friday that the priority is to achieve a soft landing in Afghanistan in a post-US context so that there will be no new civil war or humanitarian disaster in the country, and unnecessary casualties and mass refugees will be avoided to the maximum extent. Wang pointed out that certain countries should take responsibility for what they have done in the past 20 years, and they cannot leave Afghanistan after creating a huge disaster and pass the responsibility on to Afghanistan's neighbors and the international community.

Global Times