China wants friendly relations with the Taliban, the foreign ministry in Beijing says. “China respects the right of the Afghan people to determine their destiny independently and wants to continue to cooperate and develop friendly relations with Afghanistan.”
The extremists took the capital Kabul on Sunday after almost wholly overrun the rest of the country since May. Afghanistan is a neighbour of China, and the Chinese embassy remains open in Kabul.
Western countries that have spent 20 years trying to prevent the Taliban from returning to power have closed their diplomatic missions and evacuated compatriots.
Russia, which has regarded the Taliban as a terrorist organisation since 2003, will enter into talks with the new rulers through the envoy in Kabul on Tuesday. Ambassador Zamir Zhirnov will first meet with Taliban security officials. They have already assured him “that Russian diplomats will not be hurt”.
Russia will recognise the Taliban, and their rule depends on how they behave like a government. Russia has had diplomatic contacts with the Taliban for years despite the terrorist status that the Kremlin has given to the movement.