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China asks Taliban to make 'clean break' from all terrorist forces

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  1. Kuromantis
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    In a significant policy statement on the Taliban which is making big gains in its offensive in Afghanistan, China has asked it to make a "clean break" from all terrorist forces, especially the al-Qaida-backed Uyghur Muslim militant group ETIM fighting for the volatile Xinjiang province's independence.

    In his media briefing at Dushanbe, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that further spread of the war in Afghanistan, especially an all-out civil war, should be avoided and pitched for restarting of intra-Afghan negotiations to realise political reconciliation and prevention of all kinds of terrorist forces from gaining ground in Afghanistan.

    He also praised the Afghanistan government -- which often accuses Beijing's "all-weather ally" Pakistan of harbouring the Taliban militants -- saying that the government headed by President Ashraf Ghani has done a lot of work for national unity, social stability and improvement of people's livelihood, which should be justly evaluated.

    Observers say Wang's comments on the Taliban indicate that China is not buying the Taliban's recent overtures stating that it considers Beijing as a "friend".

    China is concerned that hundreds of East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) fighters, reportedly grouping in Afghanistan, mostly Badakhshan province sharing a 90-km long border with Xinjiang through the narrow Wakhan corridor, will sneak into Xinjiang or through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and the Central Asia states.

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