China has stepped up its diplomacy between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the wake of the US troops withdrawal from the war-torn country.
China, which has strengthened ties with Pakistan and Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops from the war-torn country, has promised to host peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Notably, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who held telephone talks two days ago with his Pakistani and Afghan counterparts, said China would bring back the Afghan government led by Ashraf Ghani by playing a leading role.
The offer for peace talks was made during Wang's telephone conversation with his Afghan counterpart Mohammad Haneef Atmar on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news conference on Tuesday.
Asked to elaborate, Zhao said, China is ready to hold talks between Afghanistan and will provide the necessary conditions for negotiations in China.
The United States has announced plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in September.
The withdrawal of US troops has raised concerns in Beijing that it could lead to the reunification of Uyurur Muslim forces in Afghanistan's Xinjiang province, which is sharing borders with China.
During a telephone interview, Wang told Atmar that "China will continue to support the Afghan government by participating in the country's leadership and reconciliation programs", Xinhua news agency reported.
Wang also called on all parties to support and implement the decisions of the UN Security Council to promote the smooth transformation of the situation in Afghanistan, to avoid in particular the rise of terrorist forces, it said.
In a statement that may not go down well with the Taliban, Wang, according to the report, expressed his hope that Afghanistan's future leadership would follow a balanced Islamic policy, promote foreign policy of peace, maintain friendship with neighboring countries, and fight all forms of terrorism.
Wang and Atmar's talks came a day after he held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in which he called on the UN to play its part in closing the gap left by the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Wang told Qureshi that the "sudden withdrawal" of US troops from Afghanistan had a negative impact on the peace process in Afghanistan and had a negative impact on regional stability.
Under such circumstances, China expects the UN to play its "proper role". However he did not elaborate on the "appropriate" role.
Wang also said that the eight members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), India and Pakistan, of which they are members, should pay close attention to the situation with Afghanistan's neighbors to strengthen communication, unanimous action and action.
China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan are members of the SCO.
Observers say the US plan to speed up the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan could have dire consequences for China, especially in its volatile province of Xinjiang.
China has been voicing its concern over the US move despite disagreements with Washington on a number of issues, including US allegations of the Uygursan genocide by the Chinese government in Xinjiang. It denies allegations of conducting mass detention camps and violating Uygurs human rights.
Former Trump administration officials also lifted sanctions against the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a Uygur militant group operating in Xinjiang.
ETIM was designated as a terrorist organization by the UN's 1267 anti-terrorism committee in 2002 over its alleged alliance with al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.
Reports from Afghanistan said some of the latest attacks were due to the unification of Islamic State militants fighting in Syria until recently.
China is concerned that hundreds of Uygur troops, joining ISIS in Syria, could threaten peace and stability in Xinjiang.
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