China hopes Afghan Taliban will follow through its positive statements: spokesperson

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China maintains contact and communication with the Afghan Taliban and other parties on the basis of full respect for the sovereignty of Afghanistan and the will of all parties, and it encourages and hopes the Afghan Taliban can follow through its positive statements, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

After major changes took place in Afghanistan recently, the leaders and the spokesperson of the Afghan Taliban have said publicly through different channels that the Afghan Taliban would resolve problems the people face, meet people's aspirations and stay committed to forming an open and inclusive Islamic government.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press briefing that China encourages and hopes that the Afghan Taliban can follow through its positive statements, unite with all parties and ethnic groups in Afghanistan, establish a broadly-based, inclusive political framework that fits the national conditions and wins public support through dialogue and consultation as soon as possible, and adopt moderate and prudent domestic and foreign policies.

Noting that nothing stays unchanged, Hua said that when understanding and handling problems, we should adopt a holistic, interconnected and developmental dialectical approach, and look at both the past and the present. We need to not only listen to what they say, but also look at what they do.

"If we do not keep pace with the times, but stick to fixed mindset and ignore the development of the situation, we will never reach a conclusion that is in line with reality," Hua said.

"In fact, the rapid evolution of the situation in Afghanistan also reveals how the outside world lacked objective judgment on the local situation and accurate understanding of the public opinion there," Hua said, adding that some Western countries in particular should learn some lessons in this respect.