Chinese Foreign Minister arrives in Afghanistan for talks with Taliban
March 24, 2022, 8:43 am

Chinese Foreign Minister arrives in Afghanistan for talks with Taliban

Flag of China-Shanghai/Pixabay

The Arab News reported, citing the AFP, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Kabul on Thursday, a week before Beijing hosts a meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbors to see how they can help the country following its takeover by the hard-line Islamist group.

Ahmad Yasir, a top Taliban government official, tweeted: “Chinese Foreign Minister arrives in Kabul for talks with Islamic Emirate leaders."

Yi arrived in Kabul from Islamabad where he attended a two-day meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

China shares a rugged 76-kilometer sliver of a border with Afghanistan, but Beijing has long feared its neighbor could become a staging point for minority Muslim Uyghur separatists from Xinjiang.

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Even before the August 15 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, Beijing sought to maintain ties with the group as US-led forces withdrew.

Source: arabnews

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.