BEIJING – Welcoming the US-Taliban peace deal likely to be signed laterthis month, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Monday said Chinabelieved that the treaty would pave way for a smooth and orderly withdrawalof foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan and prevent terroristorganizations from taking advantage of the situation in that country.
“We welcome the news that the United States and the Afghan Taliban willreach and sign a deal,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijiansaid here at a press conference.
The United States and the Taliban in Afghanistan have announced that theywill sign a peace agreement on February 29. It will be witnessed byinternational observers.
“We hope that the relevant agreements will be smoothly implemented toprepare a ground for a political settlement of the Afghanistan issue,” headded.
Noticing the relevant reports, he said that China had maintained closecommunication and coordination with the relevant parties on the latestsituation on Afghanistan.
He said that China firmly supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned broadand inclusive process for peace and reconciliation which supported theparties concerned in Afghanistan to strengthen dialogue.
“We believe that foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan should bewithdrawn in an orderly and responsible manner to ensure that the situationwill have a smooth transition,” he added.
Zhao Lijian said that the Chinese side also believed that the deal wouldprevent any security vacuum and also ensure to prevent terroristorganizations from taking advantage of the situation in Afghanistan.
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He said that China was willing to continue to strengthen cooperation withthe parties to the Afghan issue and the international community to jointlycontribute to peace, stability and development in Afghanistan.
While commenting on the announcement of the presidential election inAfghanistan, he said that China had noticed that the Afghan ElectionCommission’s announcement of the victory of incumbent President AshrafGhani.
He said that Afghanistan was China’s friendly neighbour, saying, “Werespect the Afghan presidential election procedures and supports the Afghanpeople to independently deciding the future of the country.”
He said that the Chinese side would continue to work with the new Afghangovernment and people from all walks of life to promote peace, stability,and development in Afghanistan.
On February 18, the Election Commission of Afghanistan announced thatAshraf Ghani, the current president, obtained 50.64% of the votes in thepresidential election held on September 28, 2019, and was successfullyre-elected.
