China calls world to engage with Afghan Taliban

NEW YORK: China on Monday renewed its calls for the international community to engage with the Afghan Taliban one year after the group’s takeover of Kabul, foreign media reported.

China’s UN envoy Zhang Jun told reporters in New York that it was important to engage with the new administration to give them guidance and confidence so that they can move forward. While China has not recognised the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government, it has diplomatic ties with the group.

“Those who have withdrawn should also exercise their responsibilities. They cannot simply say they left and forget everything,” Zhang said. He also called for the release of Afghan funds, which remain frozen in the US, from the country’s central bank as soon as possible.

“There is no justification for anyone to freeze the assets that belong to Afghanistan,” he said. The US has seized almost $9 billion of Afghan funds since the Taliban takeover, with the Joe Biden administration splitting frozen assets between the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and humanitarian aid for Afghan people.