World should ‘positively guide’ Taliban: Chinese foreign minister tells top US diplomat

Washington should work with the international community to provide economic and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, help the new regime run governmental functions normally, maintain social stability, and stop the currency from depreciating and the cost of living from rising, Wang said, according to a statement.

The international community, including the US, should "guide" the Taliban in Afghanistan and provide economic and humanitarian aid, Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call on Sunday.

Washington should work with the international community to provide economic and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, help the new regime run governmental functions normally, maintain social stability, and stop the currency from depreciating and the cost of living from rising, Wang said, according to a statement.

“While respecting the sovereignty of Afghanistan, the US should take concrete action to help Afghanistan fight terrorism and stop violence, rather than playing double standards or fighting terrorism selectively,” Wang said, warning that the “hasty withdrawal” could allow terrorist groups to “regroup and come back stronger.”

At a critical moment when the US military withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan is nearing the end, Washington believes that the UN Security Council (UNSC) should speak in a clear and unified voice to show that the international community expects the Taliban to ensure the safe evacuation of foreign citizens, Blinken said during the conversation on August 29.

He also said that the Taliban must ensure Afghan people's access to humanitarian assistance, and guarantee that Afghan territory cannot become a hotbed of terrorist attacks or a safe haven for terrorism, as per the statement.

"The US, in particular, needs to work with the international community to provide Afghanistan with urgently-needed economic, livelihood and humanitarian assistance, help the new Afghan political structure maintain normal operation of government institutions, maintain social security and stability, curb currency depreciation and inflation, and embark on the journey of peaceful reconstruction at an early date,” Wang said.

However, China has not yet officially recognised the Taliban as Afghanistan’s new rulers, but Wang Yi last month hosted Mullah Baradar, chief of the group’s political office, and has said the world should guide and support the country as it transitions to a new government instead of putting more pressure on it.

The discussion comes at a time when relations between Beijing and Washington have hit the lowest point in decades and just after the release of a US intelligence assessment into the origins of Covid-19 that China said “wrongly” claimed that Beijing was hindering the investigation and dismissed as “not scientifically credible.”

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