China urges trust, cooperation with Pakistan, Afghanistan as regional tensions mount
China has pledged to improve trust and cooperation with
Pakistan and Afghanistan amid mounting military tensions in the region, with Beijing's top diplomat calling for the three countries to work together to project regional peace.
Chinese
Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks during an informal meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Afghanistan's acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Beijing on Wednesday.
According to a foreign ministry readout of the meeting, the three diplomats discussed a plan to upgrade political mutual trust and neighbourly relations, with Beijing supporting the two countries in 'safeguarding their sovereignty, security and national dignity'.
Wang said China, Pakistan and
Afghanistan should deepen exchanges and diplomatic ties, and that the two South Asian nations had agreed 'in principle' to exchange ambassadors 'as soon as possible'.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) held talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Xinhua
'China welcomes this and is willing to continue to provide help for the improvement of Afghanistan-Pakistan relations,' Wang said, according to the statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Privilege or merit? Harvard speech ignites China debate on elite education access
Emotional remarks by a Chinese student who delivered this year's Harvard University commencement speech have sparked a debate in China about barriers to elite education. Advertisement The speech by Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang, the first Chinese woman chosen as Harvard's student commencement speaker, called for global unity amid US President Donald Trump's plan to 'aggressively' revoke Chinese student visas Internet users have since raised questions about a lack of access for many ordinary students who have struggled to be considered for prestigious universities, citing an uneven distribution of financial and educational resources. While some praised her message of 'a shared humanity', which echoed Beijing's diplomatic vision of 'a community with a shared future for mankind', others criticised her 'privileged' background and questioned whether she truly represented the broader Chinese student population. According to Harvard Magazine, Jiang, originally from Qingdao in eastern China, attended high school in the United Kingdom . She completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University before enrolling at the Harvard Kennedy School for a master's degree. Advertisement Internet users also questioned her volunteer experience in the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation – where her father reportedly worked as a director, and which played a role in securing a recommendation letter for her Harvard application in 2022.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Triangular diplomacy a tricky tightrope to walk for Asia-Pacific leaders
Middle and major powers are using trade, investment and technology as weapons of influence in pursuit of triangular diplomacy, a stratagem of Cold War realpolitik. However, the strengths of this approach – agility, ambiguity and tactical scope – hide the dangers of entanglements that escalate instability. A nation triangulates by balancing and manoeuvring between two other powers , building leverage, reducing dependency and becoming indispensable to multiple sides without fully committing to any. Triangular diplomacy is now a prominent approach for leaders negotiating a world where post-war institutions are in decline, autarkic capitalism is emerging, military budgets are soaring and multilateral commitments are being reassessed by US President Donald Trump. President Richard Nixon's emissary, Henry Kissinger , orchestrated this statecraft in the 1970s by using the Sino-Soviet rivalry to bolster America's power. He fostered closer ties with Beijing and Moscow individually as he kept both unsure of Washington's commitment to either.
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Shangri-La Dialogue a place to ease tensions, not inflame China threat
The Shangri-La Dialogue, held annually in Singapore, has long provided a useful platform for discussion of Asia's security issues. Advertisement But the United States used the region's premier security conference last weekend to launch a provocative attack on China, a move that fanned flames, rather than easing concerns. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth accused China of wanting to 'fundamentally alter the region's status quo'. The threat, he said, was 'real' and 'could be imminent'. He referred to the South China Sea and Taiwan. Hegseth urged US partners and allies to join it in countering what he described as China's aggression. Beijing could not let the strongly worded allegations go unanswered. Hu Gangfeng, a People's Liberation Army major general, dismissed them as 'groundless'. Advertisement Hegseth's comments, Hu said, aimed to stir up trouble and incite confrontation, destabilising the region. China's defence and foreign ministries issued statements condemning the US accusations.
