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.

    • TWeaK
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      1 year 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?

        • TWeaK
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          1 year 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?