China calls on Afghanistan to reform radical policies, urges changes on women's roles

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called on Afghanistan to reform its radical policies excluding women from education and public life and “adopt a more resolute attitude in combating terrorism.” The comments came on the heels of a Pakistan-hosted mini-summit of China, Afghanistan and Pakistan that sought to promote trade and lower border tensions amid a surge of attacks inside Pakistan. Wang said China hopes the Taliban-appointed Afghan interim government will “take solid steps in the right direction, make practical efforts to gain the understanding and trust of the international community and create favourable conditions for Afghanistan to further develop good neighbourliness with its neighbours and integrate into the international community.” China generally refrains from commenting on the internal policies of nations with which it wishes to curry favor, or can use as leverage in its campaign to combat the dominance of global affairs by the U.S. and other liberal democracies. China has also made halting efforts to extend its Belt and Road Initiative to Afghanistan which could see the construction of railways and bridges but is chiefly concerned with Afghanistan harbouring separatists opposed to Chinese control in its northwestern region of Xinjiang. “The international community still has a lot of concerns and expectations for the Afghan interim government, including hoping the Afghan side will make more progress in implementing moderate and prudent internal and external policies and safeguarding the rights and interests of women and children, and adopt a more resolute attitude in combating terrorism so as to produce more visible results,” Wang said at a daily briefing. Wang praised a joint statement issued Monday at the end of the trilateral meeting as the first time the Taliban had put in writing a commitment to disallow terrorist groups to use Afghanistan as a base of operations. Women barred from receiving education Women in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime have been deprived of several rights including a ban on school and University education. Since 15 August 2021, the Taliban have restricted women and girls’ freedom of movement, excluded women from most areas of the workforce and banned them from using parks, gyms and public bath houses. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday unanimously condemned a Taliban administration ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations in Afghanistan and called on Taliban leaders to “swiftly reverse” a rigid crackdown on the fundamental rights of women and girls. Earlier this year, the Taliban began enforcing the ban on Afghan women working for the UN after stopping most women from working for humanitarian aid groups in December. Since toppling the US-backed government in 2021, they have also tightened controls on women’s access to public life, including barring women from university and closing girls’ high schools. With inputs from AP. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .