Afghan president to begin state visit to China on Tue.

23/3 Tass 20

BEIJING, March 23 (Itar-Tass) -- President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan
begins his state visit to China on Tuesday to discuss the present state of
and prospects for Chinese-Afghan relations, as well as issues of the two
countries' cooperation on important regional and international problems.
The visit will last until March 25.
Within the framework of the three-day stay in China, the Afghan
president will hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and have
meetings with Head of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress of China U Bango and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
Such a saturated program, as observers note, testifies to the
continuing search by Afghanistan of effective ways to reduce its
dependence on the United States and NATO, as well to the importance for
Kabul of the "factor of Beijing" from the point of view of possible
diversification of Afghanistan's foreign policy.
Heightened attention of Beijing to this visit is caused both by
positive dynamics of development of bilateral relations and the lack for
clear perspectives of the Afghan peaceful settlement, which causes China's
concern.
In this connection, during meetings of President Karzai with the
Chinese leadership, the sides are expected to discuss not only issues of
further building up of economic cooperation of Beijing and Kabul on a
number of promising projects, but China's active participation in
restoring the economy of Afghanistan, too.
The sides, in particular, intend to focus on the issue of further
presence of the International Security Assistance Force on the territory
of Afghanistan. Long staying of foreign troops there, which is undesirable
for China, can become a serious obstacle in the way of peaceful talks
planned by the administration of Hamid Karzai with the leadership of the
Taliban movement, for which the withdrawal of these forces from the
country is one of the main conditions of a dialogue with the authorities.
-0-ast