KABUL: China has never interfered in the internal affairs of Afghanistanand never sought selfish gains or a sphere of influence, Chinese StateCouncilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a meeting with AfghanTaliban officials in Kabul on Thursday.
Wang met with Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar andActing Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi of the Afghan Taliban’s interimgovernment earlier in the day. His visit comes ahead of the third ForeignMinisters’ Meeting among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan, which isnow being prepared by the Chinese side.
China and Afghanistan are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and riversand bilateral exchanges spanning over a thousand years, Wang said.
He said China respects Afghanistan’s sovereignty, independence andterritorial integrity, respects the independent choices of the Afghanpeople, and respects Afghanistan’s religious beliefs and ethnic habits.
Citing the Afghan saying that China is the only major country that hasnever harmed Afghanistan, Wang said China is willing to continue thetraditional friendship between the two peoples and develop normal, friendlyand good-neighborly relations with Afghanistan based on the FivePrinciples of Peaceful Coexistence.
He said China is willing to help Afghanistan become independent, achieveindependent development, and take Afghanistan’s future and destiny into theAfghan people’s hands.
The Chinese foreign minister arrived in Kabul from the Pakistani capitalIslamabad, where he attended a two-day meeting of the Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation.
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Visit of top China diplomat sends ‘positive message’: Taliban
China’s foreign minister Thursday arrived in Afghanistan on his maiden tripto the country after the exit of US-led foreign forces last year.
As most countries worldwide have taken a wait-and-see approach to thecountry’s Taliban interim government, officials said the visit by Wang Yisent a “positive message.”
The visit comes a day after Yi attended the foreign ministers’ summitlinkofthe Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) hosted by Pakistan, but alsoafter Taliban officials canceled education beyond sixth grade for girlslink—a move widely decried.
After arriving in Kabul, Yi met with interim Foreign Minister Amir KhanMuttaqi and other top diplomats, said a ministry statement.
