The US president has announced his intent to renew an American military presence in the country<\/p>\n
China and the Taliban have slammed US President Donald Trump\u2019s recent statements about retaking control of Afghanistan\u2019s Bagram Air Base.
\nTrump has claimed he is in talks with the Afghan leadership on the issue, arguing that Washington needs the base due to its close proximity to some of China\u2019s key nuclear infrastructure.
\n\u201cChina respects Afghanistan\u2019s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Afghanistan\u2019s future should rest in the hands of the Afghan people,\u201d Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in response during a briefing on Friday.
\n\u201cStirring up tension and confrontation in the region will not be supported,\u201d he added.
\nA day earlier, Zakir Jalaly, a diplomat at the Afghan Foreign Ministry, said that the people of his country would reject the return of US troops.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US wants key Afghan air base back<\/p>\n
He argued that Kabul and Washington should pursue mutually respectful economic and political ties \u201cwithout the US maintaining any military presence in any part of Afghanistan.\u201d
\nThe Soviet-built base came under the Taliban-led Afghan Defense Ministry after the disastrous US pullout from Afghanistan in 2021, ending a two-decade presence in the country. Trump has called the withdrawal, which occurred on his predecessor Joe Biden\u2019s watch, \u201ca disgrace.\u201d
\nTrump has also alleged that China is using the base, without providing evidence. Kabul has denied the claim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US president has announced his intent to renew an American military presence in the country China and the Taliban have slammed US President Donald Trump\u2019s recent statements about retaking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t