China supports intra-Afghan dialogue for peace, reconciliation in Afghanistan: Spokesperson

• China says it supports the dialogue between all parties in Afghanistan, including the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban.
• Geng Shuang says China firmly supports the broad and inclusive peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

BEIJING: China Tuesday said it supported the dialogue between all parties in Afghanistan, including the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban.

“China firmly supports the broad and inclusive peace and reconciliation process that is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Geng Shuang said during a regular briefing here.

“We support dialogue between all parties in Afghanistan, including the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban,” he added.

He said : "Chinese are ready on the basis of respecting the will of all parties in Afghanistan; provide facilitation and assistance to the peace and reconciliation process, including intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiation."

When asked to confirm that if intra-Afghan talks are taking place in Beijing this week, he said, “We will keep you updated if there is any information on this.”

There were reports that the delegations of representing the Afghan government and Afghan Taliban, will take part in a dialogue, hosted by the Chinese government in Beijing.

However, a Chinese official informed that the dialogue has been postponed for a few days as both delegations could not reach by Monday.