Diplomatic recognition of Afghan gov’t will come at ‘right time’: China

ISTANBUL

Signaling it was in no rush to recognize the interim administration in Kabul, China Tuesday said diplomatic recognition of the Afghan government “will come naturally at the right time.”

“As a longtime friendly neighbor of Afghanistan, China believes that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community,” Wang Wenbin, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing.

Beijing’s statement came after Afghanistan’s Taliban administration posted its new ambassador to Beijing last month.

Mawlawi Asadullah Bilal Karimi was sent as the new ambassador to China by Kabul on Nov. 24 whose credentials were received by Hong Lei, director general of Protocols at China’s Foreign Ministry on Dec. 01.

However, Wang said Tuesday: “It is believed that the diplomatic recognition of the Afghan government will come naturally at the right time, with the concerns of all parties addressed more effectively.”

“China hopes that Afghanistan will further respond to the expectations of the international community, building an open and inclusive political framework, implementing moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, resolutely combating all kinds of terrorist forces,” said Wang, according to Beijing-based daily Global Times.

According to Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, Hong called Karimi’s appointment “an important step in the developing relations between China and Afghanistan.”

“China respects the sovereignty of Afghanistan and the decisions of the people of Afghanistan,” Hong told the new Afghan ambassador.

He added that China “seeks to assist Afghanistan in economic and infrastructure projects within the framework” of the Belt and Road Initiative – Beijing’s multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure of roads, bridges, and energy projects among others.

Hong "reassured" that credentials of Karimi "will be presented to the President of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Xi Jinping, during a special ceremony in the near future," Balkhi said.