The Afghan Taliban appointed a former spokesperson as its ambassador to China, the foreign affairs ministry said on Friday. The appointment marks the former’s first officially accredited envoy to any country since it took power in 2021.
New envoy Bilal Karimi arrived in China late last month to take up the role, the Taliban-run foreign ministry said in a statement.
“He is the official accredited ambassador of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to the People’s Republic of China,” Afghan Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi told Reuters, adding that he was the country’s first such envoy since the 2021 takeover.
Comments from China
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during his regular press conference on Tuesday that, as a “long-standing friendly neighbour” of Afghanistan, Beijing believes that Kabul “should not be excluded from the international community.”
China says IEA must reform before government can be recognizedhttps://t.co/4lA0HZA5Gf
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China said on Tuesday Afghanistan’s Taliban government will need to introduce political reforms, improve security and mend relations with its neighbours before receiving full diplomatic… pic.twitter.com/625oD8fU5Z
However, Wang added that the Afghan Taliban will need to introduce political reforms and mend relations with its neighbours before it achieves full diplomatic recognition.
“We hope Afghanistan will further respond to the expectations of the international community, build an open and inclusive political structure, adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies, firmly combat all forms of terrorist forces, develop friendly relations with other countries, especially with its neighbours, and integrate itself into the world community,” he said.
“We believe that diplomatic recognition of the Afghan government will come naturally as the concerns of various parties are effectively addressed,” the spokesperson added.
Prior Appointments
Prior to Karimi’s appointment, the Taliban official sent to run the Afghan embassy in Beijing was a charge d’affaires. The post does not require the presentation of ambassadorial credentials to the host, a step that depends on the formal recognition of the envoy’s government.
No country, including China, has officially recognised the Taliban government since their takeover after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in August 2021.
In September, the Asian superpower became the first country to formally appoint a new ambassador to Afghanistan since the takeover.