New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping on January 30 formally accepted the qualifications of a Taliban-appointed ambassador, becoming the first head of state to do so, a media report said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin clarified that the move does not mean that Beijing officially recognizes the Taliban government, RFE/RL reports.
“Diplomatic recognition of the Afghan government will come naturally if the concerns of various parties are effectively addressed,” he said in the report.
However, the Taliban celebrated the move as a major diplomatic victory.
“China understands what the rest of the world needs to understand,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesman, urged other countries to expand bilateral ties with his government, RFE/RL reported.
China’s move is to boost the Taliban-led government, which has not been recognized by any country since the extremist group seized power in 2021.
RFE/RL reported that Beijing’s growing diplomatic ties with the Taliban government could prompt other countries in the region, including Iran and Russia, to follow suit.
Ibrahim Bahis, an Afghanistan expert at the International Crisis Group, said Beijing’s decision shows the Taliban is moving forward in its strategy to gain official recognition from regional countries.
He wrote, as RFE/RL reports, that countries in the region are “growing increasingly skeptical about the Western consensus that the Taliban should be confined to pariah status on the world stage”.
