Chinese Envoy Evades Commenting On Girl’s Education Ban In Afghanistan

Yue Xiaoyong, China's Special Envoy for Afghanistan, evaded commenting on the ban on girls' education in Afghanistan.

In an interview with the Iranian media outlet IRNA, Xiaoyong said that the international community should respect the "culture of the Afghans" and their "way of handling internal affairs”.

This Chinese diplomat emphasised again that the international community should avoid any interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs and recommended refraining from "imposing foreign solutions to solve Afghanistan's issues”.

Xiaoyong, who visited Tehran to participate in a regional contact group meeting ahead of the third UN meeting on Afghanistan, said, "The international community should avoid imposing foreign solutions to solve Afghanistan's issues."

China has accepted the Taliban’s representative as Afghanistan's ambassador in Beijing, but has refrained from recognising the Taliban administration as the official government of Afghanistan.

China has also maintained its diplomatic representation in Kabul at the ambassadorial level and has close relations with the Taliban. The country is seeking economic opportunities, particularly access to Afghanistan's mineral reserves.

Xiaoyong said that the third UN meeting on Afghanistan would be "informal" and held behind closed doors.

However, he added, "We want to reintegrate Afghanistan into the international community as soon as possible.”

He described the previous UN meetings on Afghanistan in Doha as "unsuccessful" because Taliban representatives were not present. He argued that representatives of an independent country were not present in a meeting discussing that country.