Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pose for a photograph during their meeting in Tianjin, China, on Wednesday (July 28, 2021).
China on Wednesday praised Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as a “significant military and political force” in Afghanistan and for making a “clean break” with all terrorist groups, especially the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM). Said. – Uighur Muslim terrorist group from Xinjiang.
Amid deep concerns here over the resumption of the ETIM blamed by Beijing for all violent attacks in its volatile Xinjiang province and elsewhere in the country, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Mullah Baradar in Tianjin and called for a “positive” sought to dominate them. image and establish a comprehensive and inclusive political structure that is compatible with the national realities of Afghanistan”.
Most importantly for Beijing, with recent reports of ETIM militants fighting in the Syrian war, as well as Islamic State (IS) reorganizations in Afghanistan, Wang’s emphasis was on how the Taliban who are increasingly in Afghanistan Moving on from, before a complete withdrawal. The US military should not allow Uighur militants into the war-torn country.
Mullah Baradar, who made a surprise visit to China, described Beijing as a “trusted friend” and assured that his group would not allow “use of any force” on the territory of Afghanistan.
A recent UN report said hundreds of ETIM fighters have gathered in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, which is bordered by al-Qaeda and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists, as well as China’s unstable Xinjiang province. who is revolting against Pakistan. especially in its chaotic tribal areas.
“Wang pointed out that the Afghan Taliban is an important military and political force in Afghanistan and is expected to play an important role in the country’s peace, reconciliation and reconstruction process,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in his updated remarks to the media. Briefing.
“We hope that the Afghan Taliban will put the interests of the country and the nation first, keep the flag of peace talks high, set the goal of peace, build a positive image and pursue an inclusive policy,” Wang said.
Wang stressed that “ETIM is an international terrorist organization designated by the United Nations Security Council that poses a direct threat to China’s national security and territorial integrity.”
“It is a common responsibility of the international community to combat this.
We hope that the Afghan Taliban will take a clean break with all terrorist organizations including ETIM and firmly and effectively to remove obstacles, play a positive role and create conditions conducive to security, stability, development and cooperation in the region. will fight them. .
ETIM may have been listed as a terrorist group, but the previous Trump administration has lifted its ban as the US has accused Uighur Muslims of genocide in Xinjiang.
In addition to the US and the European Union, several other countries have accused China of committing genocide against Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang and called for an international investigation by human rights groups. China is strongly denying allegations that millions of Uighurs are being held in mass detention camps, officially called re-education camps.
The Sino-Taliban agreement followed last week’s talks between Wang and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Chengdu, where the two countries decided to launch joint operations in Afghanistan.
“After intense communication, we decided to launch joint action” that would include “every effort to advance peace, making top priority to avoid the spread of war, and prevent Afghanistan from escalating into a full-scale civil war”. Was involved, Wang said after talking to Qureshi
Previously, Wang worked on tripartite diplomacy in an attempt to iron out differences between the Afghan government, which has been accusing Pakistan of hosting Taliban leaders on its soil, and Islamabad.
Appreciating the opportunity to visit China, Mullah Baradar told Wang that “China has always been a reliable friend of the Afghan people and China’s just and positive role in Afghanistan’s peace and reconciliation process,” according to the press release quoted by Zhao. appreciates”.
“The Afghan Taliban will never allow any force to use Afghan territory to engage in acts harmful to China,” Baradar said without citing ETIM.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a Taliban spokesman as saying that the meetings focused on the political, economic and security issues facing the two countries as well as the peace process.
He said the group had assured China that Afghan territory would not be used to jeopardize the security of other countries, and that China would not interfere in Afghanistan’s affairs, but to help build peace and solve problems. had promised.
However, observers say it may be a difficult task for the Taliban to drive out Uighur militants or hand them over to China as they were part of a mix of IS and al-Qaeda.
Andrew Small, a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, recently told the Post that “whatever benign language the Taliban use, China is highly concerned about the security situation there.”
China had previously hosted the Taliban in 2019.
Yan Wei, an international relations professor at Northwest University in China, said it was important for both the Taliban and China to engage each other.
“Whether the Taliban forms the government or not, it is a major force influencing the political development and security of Afghanistan,” he told the Post.
“Taliban may ban some other terrorist organizations in Afghanistan. China may impose some sanctions on other terrorist organizations through Taliban, which is useful for China’s security and regional security,” he said.
Read more: No military solution to Afghan conflict, peaceful solution necessary: Blinken
Read more: Pakistan PM Imran Khan says US ‘really messed it up’ in Afghanistan
.