China-Taliban relations

China has little interest in providing global leadership on the Afghanistan issue, especially when selective engagement seems to be paying off.

China’s willingness to partner with the Taliban undermines American efforts to influence the extremist group’s behavior through pressure campaigns and sanctions.

Afghanistan has been partially successful in boosting stability, improving livelihoods, and protecting human rights, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi's surprise trip to Afghanistan was a clear sign that China is ready to engage with the Taliban as a normal government.

Wang Yi’s visit marked one of the highest-level engagements for the Taliban regime – and came just a day after the Taliban broke a promise to allow older girls to attend school.

As the Taliban courts China with nascent regulations on Uyghur militants, ISK is trying to capitalize by boosting recruitment of Uyghurs.

Insights from Claudia Chia.

Hyping an unsubstantiated “extremism” threat is a key, and classic, tactic in the Chinese government’s propaganda war.

Beijing will approach Afghan affairs – and the Taliban – more cautiously than people think.

The Taliban’s promises cannot be trusted. China knows this, but it has few good options.

The answer is less clear now, in 2021, than it was in 1996.