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China calls for end to sanctions on Afghanistan ‘as soon as possible’
- Foreign Minister Wang Yi also tells G20 counterparts that foreign exchange reserves should ‘not be used as a bargaining chip to exert political pressure’
- He urges the World Bank, IMF and others to release Afghan government accounts and provide economic aid to the country
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China has called for sanctions on Afghanistan to be lifted and says its foreign exchange reserves should not be frozen to exert “political pressure” on the Taliban.
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“Economic sanctions on Afghanistan must end,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during virtual talks with his Group of 20 counterparts on Thursday.
“The various unilateral sanctions or restrictions on Afghanistan should be lifted as soon as possible,” he said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.
Wang also hit out at the move to freeze the Afghan central bank’s US$9.5 billion in reserves held in the United States.
“Afghanistan’s foreign exchange reserves are national assets that should belong to and be used by its own people, and not be used as a bargaining chip to exert political pressure on Afghanistan,” he said.
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China’s foreign minister also called on the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and others to release Afghan government accounts “as soon as possible” and provide economic aid to Afghanistan.
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