People work at the site of a bomb explosion in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on July 13, 2021. Four civilians were killed and five others injured as a blast rocked Police District 1 of Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Tuesday, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz said.(Photo: Xinhua)

China is ready to facilitate inter-Afghan negotiations in China at any time and contribute to the political settlement of the Afghan issue, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday in a meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. 

Wang said China will not interfere with the internal issues in Afghanistan and has no geopolitical calculation about the region. China will continue to treat Afghanistan with respect of its sovereignty and independence.

China will continue to provide Afghanistan with support in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccines. We hope that the Afghan government will ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions in Afghanistan, Wang said. 

Wang said the hasty withdrawal of the US and NATO forces has intensified the security threats in Afghanistan, and the priority is to restart internal negotiation and prevent a civil war. In particular, we should prevent various terrorist forces from gaining ground in Afghanistan and never allow Afghanistan to become a haven for terrorists again. 

We hope that the Afghan government will strengthen confidence in peace talks and create necessary conditions for reconciliation and reconstruction of Afghanistan. The Taliban should make a clean break with all terrorist forces, Wang said.

Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar said he completely agreed with Wang's remarks on the Afghan issue, and that Afghanistan is ready to strengthen security cooperation with China to crack down on terrorist groups such as the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement. He also added that Afghanistan will never allow any terrorist organization in Afghanistan to harm China. 

Global Times