The Afghan embassy announced that Taliban Deputy Commerce Minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi had arrived in Beijing on October 17, to attend China’s “Belt Road Initiative” forum. Azizi’s visit will include discussions about inviting “major investors” to Afghanistan, road construction plans through the Wakhan Corridor, and negotiations for a large copper mine in eastern Afghanistan. This marks one of the highest-profile international invitations extended to the Taliban since the organization’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
Despite the international community’s lack of formal recognition of the Taliban since its takeover of Afghanistan, Beijing has sought official relations with the group. Beijing is motivated in part by Afghanistan’s significant mineral resources. Last month, China’s Ambassador to Afghanistan presented credentials to the Taliban’s acting Prime Minister. Meanwhile, many other countries have avoided formal recognition of the Taliban, retaining their previous ambassadors or chargé d’affaires in Afghanistan so as to avoid the need to submit official credentials to the organization.
Source: Epoch Times, October 18, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/10/18/n14097697.htm