China Reiterates Support for Intra-Afghan Peace Talks

Responding to a journalist’s question regarding the Taliban’s announced participation in an upcoming Beijing-sponsored Afghan peace meeting, Chunying said: “China firmly supports the ‘Afghan-led, Afghan-owned,’ broad and inclusive process of peace and reconciliation.”

“We support the intra-Afghan dialogue between the Afghan government, the Afghan Taliban and other parties,” She said.

She added that China is ready to offer help to Afghanistan's peace and reconciliation process based on China’s “respect for the will of all relevant Afghan parties.”

On Wednesday, Afghan government officials said that discussions were underway about the participation of the Afghan government in the Beijing intra-Afghan talks.

If an invitation is made by the Chinese, and the criteria are acceptable, the Afghan government will decide whether to attend the meeting, said Najia Anwari, spokeswoman for the State Ministry on Peace Affairs.

The Taliban announced that they had been invited by the Chinese government and that a delegation led by the Taliban’s senior leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar would attend the meeting.

The meeting will explore options for joint efforts to help resume the stalled talks between the US and the Taliban and start an intra-Afghan dialogue.