China pledges support for Taliban in Afghanistan, but demands end to ETIM ties

Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells delegation there is no room for links with terror group it blames for Xinjiang attacks

Taliban spokesman says meeting in Tianjin covered political, economic and security issues as well as peace process

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The Taliban delegation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tianjin on Wednesday. Photo: Handout

Published: 1:15pm, 28 Jul 2021Updated: 10:37pm, 16 Aug 2021

China has pledged support for the Taliban’s role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, while demanding that it cuts ties with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement – blamed by Beijing for attacks in its Xinjiang region.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks during talks with a nine-member delegation led by the Taliban’s chief negotiator and co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in the northern city of Tianjin on Wednesday.

It was the first time a senior member of the organisation had visited China since the Taliban’s capture of several key districts in Badakhshan and Kandahar provinces. Taliban fighters have taken control of around half the country up to its border with the Chinese region of Xinjiang, and US air strikes continue to support Afghan security forces.

Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Photo: AFP

Wang said the withdrawal of US and Nato troops from Afghanistan represented a failure of US policies and called on the Taliban to push for a role in the peace process.

“The Taliban in Afghanistan is a pivotal military and political force in the country, and will play an important role in the process of peace, reconciliation and reconstruction there,” Wang said, according to a foreign ministry statement.