KABUL: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Kabul on Thursday, a week before Beijing hosts a meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbors to see how they can help the country following its takeover by the hard-line Islamist group.
“Chinese Foreign Minister arrives in Kabul for talks with Islamic Emirate leaders,” tweeted Ahmad Yasir, a top Taliban government official.
Yi arrived in Kabul from Islamabad where he attended a two-day meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
China shares a rugged 76-kilometer sliver of a border with Afghanistan, but Beijing has long feared its neighbor could become a staging point for minority Muslim Uyghur separatists from Xinjiang.
Even before the August 15 takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, Beijing sought to maintain ties with the group as US-led forces withdrew.