Taliban Afghanistan China Peace talks 28./29.10.19 delayed

Background:

China is hosting the Afghan rivals for an intra-Afghan talks on peace process after the U.S. President Donald Trump called off peace talks with Taliban last month. China will host the intra-Afghan dialogue following a September 2019 visit by a Taliban delegation to Beijing. Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the political office of Taliban in Qatar said that China has extended an invitation to Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy political chief of Taliban to send a delegation for the talks.The participants of the dialogue will participate in their personal capacity to discuss express their opinions for resolving the issues of Afghanistan.
 

Most recently on Sept. 23, 2019 a Taliban delegation travelled to Beijing and met Chinese officials after the U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced to end peace talks with the Taliban. In 2015, China hosted representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban in Urumqi, capital of China's Xinjiang province.

Beijing’s intra-Afghan peace meeting – expected to be held on 28 Oct. – has reportedly been delayed. The exact new date of the meeting has not been clear yet.Afghanistan’s Ministry of State for Peace says that talks on the Beijing peace conference are underway with the Chinese government, but Afghanistan has not yet decided to attend the meeting. Najia Anwari, the strategic communication general director of the state ministry for peace said that the Afghan government welcomes any intra-Afghan dialogue, but stresses on having the main role in the peace process.
“Talks on the details of meeting underway with the Chinses government. The Afghan government will take its decision for participation after studying the criteria of the conference,” the ministry said in a statement. (20191026)