According to US media reports, the Chinese high-level received the credentials of the ambassadors of 38 countries at the Great Hall of the People and said that the Chinese side seeks to establish deep friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with their countries. Among them, Afghan Ambassador Karimi, appointed by the Taliban, was also welcomed and received by the Chinese side.
According to the report, Taliban chief spokesman Mujahid said in a statement that China is aware of what other countries are not aware of, and they are not in a unipolar world, and he called on countries such as Russia and Iran to take similar steps as China to upgrade bilateral diplomatic relations with Afghanistan. Ahmed, the former ambassador of the Afghan government to the United Arab Emirates, believes that China's move means "recognition of the Afghan Taliban government", otherwise the head of state would not accept the credentials presented by the ambassador, and China's attitude towards the Afghan ambassador is no different from that of other ambassadors.
U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Miller said Chinese officials should clarify whether they formally recognize the Taliban regime. He said that for the United States, the Taliban's relationship with the international community depends on their actions.
In response to the doubts of the West, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China's policy towards Afghanistan has always been clear, and as Afghanistan's traditional friendly neighbor, China pursues a friendly foreign policy for all Afghan people, and maintains diplomatic relations and exchanges and cooperation in various fields with Afghanistan. China hopes that the international community will strengthen contacts and exchanges with Afghanistan and encourage it to make positive changes, help Afghanistan rebuild and develop, and make positive contributions to regional peace and stability.
Wang Wenbin's remarks revealed two pieces of news: First, China believes that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community and has high expectations for Afghanistan to return to the international community. Second, China continues to refer to itself as the "Interim Government of Afghanistan" and says that China's goodwill is aimed at all Afghan people, proving that China has not directly recognized the Taliban regime diplomatically.
As the Chinese side said, Afghanistan is China's traditional friendly neighbor, and helping Afghanistan develop reflects China's responsibility as a major country and its traditional friendship. Afghanistan's years of war, severe damage to its economic base, and Western sanctions and pressure, as well as the detention of Afghan assets abroad, have led to a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Western countries hope that the Taliban will make changes before they consider recognizing the status of the Taliban regime, but under the sanctions, it is quite difficult for Afghanistan to develop its economy normally, so it has fallen into a vicious circle. China has always believed that peace and stability can promote economic development, and conversely, economic development can also promote regional peace and stability.
When the Taliban first came to power, it was true that they did not lose some of the habits of terrorist forces, but under the urging of many parties, the Taliban has made a lot of changes. According to a report released by the United Nations, the area under opium cultivation in Afghanistan has shrunk by 95.4 per cent, and opium production has also dropped by 95 per cent. Considering that Afghanistan still has some highly autonomous local forces, the Taliban's work in counter-narcotics has indeed delivered a high score.
In addition, the Afghan Taliban has pledged to neighboring countries that they will severely crack down on terrorist forces and completely cut them off from them. Under the supervision of the international community, the Taliban have indeed made some achievements. As China has said, it believes that as the concerns of all parties are addressed, diplomatic recognition of the Afghan Government will be a matter of course.
However, it should be noted that the Taliban are still not doing well enough to protect human rights and women's rights, and the Afghan interim government needs to do more in this regard.