Kabul, Dec 1 (EFE).- The Taliban said on Friday that China has acknowledged its appointed ambassador in Beijing, marking the first recognition of a Taliban diplomat by a foreign country since the Islamist militia assumed power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The recently appointed envoy, Bilal Karimi, who served as the deputy spokesperson for the de facto government over the last two years, has been officially recognized as the ambassador of Afghanistan to China, according to spokesperson Qari Yousuf Ahmadi’s statement.
Karimi, who arrived in China on Nov. 24, was received by the Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, and diplomats from the Afghan embassy, according to the Taliban.
“China is the first country to officially accredit an ambassador from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” Ahmadi told EFE.
Photographs released by the de facto Taliban government show Karimi with Hong Lei, the director of protocol of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“Hong Lei welcomed the ambassador of Afghanistan and called it an important step in the development of relations between China and Afghanistan,” the Taliban foreign ministry said.
“He (Hong) said China respects the national sovereignty of Afghanistan, the decisions of the people of Afghanistan, and doesn’t interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, and neither did it previously,” the ministry said.
However, the Chinese government has not officially confirmed the recognition of the Taliban ambassador..
he Taliban has faced challenges in gaining international recognition since assuming power on Aug. 15, 2021, with no country recognizing the militia as the legitimate government of Afghanistan due to increasing human rights violations and restrictions on women’s freedoms.
China, however, has demonstrated gestures of growing support and sought greater economic cooperation with Afghanistan.
In October, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, the Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Taliban’s interim government attended the New Silk Roads forum to seek investment and elusive international recognition.
In the same month, a Taliban delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir Kham Muttaqi participated in the Trans-Himalayan Forum for International Cooperation in China.
In September, the Taliban reported the appointment of Zhao Xing as China’s new ambassador to Afghanistan, marking the first naming of a foreign envoy in Kabul after August 15, 2021. EFE
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