Taliban Welcomes First New Chinese Ambassador Since Takeover

China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday said it will “continue advancing dialogue and cooperation” with Afghanistan and that its policy towards the country is “clear and consistent”. Mr Zhao’s appointment is part of a “normal rotation” of Chinese ambassadors to Afghanistan, it added.

Taliban leaders received Mr. Zhao at the presidential palace in the capital Kabul on Wednesday in a lavish ceremony that included acting prime minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund and acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. He replaces Wang Yu, who completed his tenure as ambassador last month.

The appointment comes in the wake of condemnation from the UN and other international rights groups over the Taliban’s treatment of women, and its decision to reinstate public executions and lashings.

Under Taliban rule, women are barred from working and going to school, among a swathe of other restrictions. Their suppression of women’s rights is among the harshest in the world.

The Taliban has also been accused of sheltering terror groups in Afghanistan, which they have denied.

But maintaining diplomatic ties with the Taliban is important to China for economic and security reasons, analysts say.

Militants along Afghanistan’s border with China’s Xinjiang region have targeted Chinese projects in the past, sometimes as retaliation for Beijing’s mistreatment of its Muslim minorities such as Uyghurs. Reporting by the BBC supports rights groups’ accusations of mass detentions, forced labour, and abuse of a million Uyghurs. China denies any wrongdoing.

A few thousand Uyghurs who have, over the years, fled across the border to Afghanistan also now fear they can be victims of China’s growing influence in the country.

In January this year, the Taliban signed a contract with a Chinese firm in the first major energy extraction agreement with a foreign firm since they seized power.

Earlier this year, China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan also agreed to extend the Beijing-backed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor into Afghanistan, giving it a prominent role in the ambitious initiative. The leaders of Pakistan and China said at the time that they wanted to help “rebuild” Afghanistan.

Observers say the role Afghanistan plays at the Belt and Road Initiative conference this October, and in the broader project, will be watched closely.