China has become the first country to confer diplomatic status to a Taliban-nominated official as Afghanistan's Ambassador to Beijing, thereby formally recognising the Taliban-run administration as a legitimate government in Kabul.
"As a long-standing friendly neighbour of Afghanistan, China believes that Afghanistan should not be excluded from the international community," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing on Tuesday when asked whether China recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Earlier reports from Kabul said China has given Bilal Karimi, a Taliban nominee the status of ambassador and he has submitted his credentials to the foreign ministry in Beijing.
China along with Pakistan and Russia maintained its embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of American troops from the war-ravaged country.
While maintaining close contact with the Taliban interim administration, Beijing withheld recognition, especially over global criticism of the Taliban's treatment of women and girls, excluding them from educational institutions. -- PTI