Beijing Urges Unfreezing Afghan Government Funds Held Abroad
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Wednesday said the Chinese Embassy in Kabul was “operating normally."
“We stand ready to maintain communication with the new Afghan authority,” Zhao said.
China has yet to say whether it will recognize the Taliban government, but has been actively courting its top officials, hosting a delegation led by its political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in July, shortly before the group swept to power amid the withdrawal of US forces and the mass exodus of Afghans.
China has also been sharply critical of the nature of the pullout, and, while wary of the rise of radicalism on its western border, has been generally supportive of the group seen as defeating its strategic rival, the United States.
Afghanistan is now teetering on the edge of economic collapse and while China has offered support, it’s not clear when or how it will deliver.
Last week, the Taliban announced an all-male interim government but the exclusion of other political factions and women has made it unlikely that they will win broad international support or international recognition as the legitimate leaders of Afghanistan.
Without such recognition, the Taliban will be unable to tap billions of its funds frozen abroad, almost all of it contributed by foreign donors.
Zhao said those funds should be unfrozen and handed over to the Taliban. “Those assets belong to Afghanistan and the Afghan people,” Zhao said.
“The US should face up to Afghanistan’s justified and reasonable appeals, abandon imposition of sanctions and pressure and not hinder Afghanistan’s economy, livelihood and peaceful reconstruction,” Zhao said, AP reported.
