Exclusive: Taliban to join China's Belt and Road forum, elevating ties
www.reuters.com
The Taliban will attend China's Belt and Road Forum next week, a spokesman said on Saturday, underscoring Beijing's growing official ties with the administration, despite its lack of formal recognition by any government.

The Taliban will attend China’s Belt and Road Forum next week, a spokesman said on Saturday, underscoring Beijing’s growing official ties with the administration, despite its lack of formal recognition by any government.

Taliban officials and ministers have at times travelled to regional meetings, mostly those focussed on Afghanistan, but the Belt and Road Forum is among the highest-profile multilateral summits it has been invited to attend.

The forum in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s ambitious global infrastructure and energy initiative, billed as recreating the ancient Silk Road to boost global trade.

  • TWeaKEnglish
    -12•9 months ago

    Absolutely. The Taliban are terrible for women’s rights. This is the most obvious and biggest negative. Although, they’ve not been as bad as Iran recently - Western media has been itching to find examples of the Taliban really cracking down and assaulting women but haven’t found much if anything. While we could assume that they have been doing it and perhaps even probably be correct, that’s still just an assumption.

      • TWeaKEnglish
        -1•9 months ago

        Weird that the image isn’t loading for me in situ. Edit: It came up after a few refreshes. /e Anyway.

        Got any context? Date? An article to go with it?

        • Bernie EcclestonedEnglish
          3•9 months ago

          The urgent call from the ten Special Rapporteurs and members of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, came in response to an announcement by the Taliban-appointed Supreme Court in favour of punishments including stoning, flogging and burying people under a wall.

          https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136562

          • TWeaKEnglish
            0•9 months ago

            Thanks. That’s rubbish then, not surprising of course but it’s pretty much the worst way things could go.

            Is there anything you can tell me about the photo above?