EFE / Washington, United States
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, predicted on Tuesday that China will try to reach an agreement with the Taliban, when asked about the possibility of Beijing providing funds to the insurgent group that controls Afghanistan.
“China has a real problem with the Taliban, so I’m sure they are going to try to reach some kind of agreement,” Biden said in a statement to reporters upon arriving at the White House after visiting New Jersey and New York to oversee. the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida.
The president did not clarify what such a deal could consist of, and his remarks came in response to a question about whether he is concerned that China may provide funds to the Taliban.
Biden added that Pakistan, Russia and Iran are also “trying to decide what to do now” that the insurgent group has come to power, coinciding with the withdrawal of international troops after 20 years of war in the Central Asian country.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has blocked the Taliban’s access to about $ 400 million of the multilateral organization’s emergency reserves, but some observers in Washington believe that economic pressure could fall on deaf ears if China or Russia give funds to insurgents.
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China’s priority is to avoid being affected by hostilities in Afghanistan, a country with which it shares some 60 kilometers of border in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, an area mainly of Uighur ethnicity in which attacks of different kinds have been registered in recent decades. .
In addition, Beijing wants to eliminate any threat to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a trade route with an investment of 60,000 million dollars that will connect the city of Kasghar, in Xinjiang, with the Pakistani port of Gwadar, according to experts.
The main spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said on Monday that the insurgent group – which has not yet formed an official government – wants to maintain good relations with the international community, and was especially close with China.
“China is our friendly country, they have helped us a lot and we have asked them to help us, to cooperate with us, we also ask the Government of China to officially recognize our Government and maintain diplomatic relations with us,” he said at a press conference. in Kabul.
According to the spokesman, the Taliban are ready to offer their “cooperation and full support for the security” of China’s economic projects in the region.
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