Chinese officials and Taliban meet, in sign of warming ties

Meeting in Chinese city of Tianjin comes as US-led foreign forces continue pulling out of Afghanistan.

China’s foreign minister has met a Taliban delegation, signalling warming ties as the United States-led foreign forces continue their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Wang Yi on Wednesday told the nine visiting Taliban representatives, which included the group’s co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, that Beijing expected it to “play an important role in the process of peaceful reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan”, according to a readout of the meeting from the foreign ministry. He also said he hoped the Taliban would crack down on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement as it was a “direct threat to China’s national security”, according to the readout, referring to a group China says is active in the Xinjiang region in China’s far west. Beijing has said it fears neighbouring Afghanistan could be used as a staging ground for separatists.