BEIJING, Sept 19 – China on Friday said any decision to allow the United States to re-establish its presence at the Bagram Air Base must be made by Afghanistan and its people, after former US President Donald Trump suggested Washington was seeking to regain control of the strategic facility near China’s border.
“China respects Afghanistan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a press briefing. “The future of Afghanistan should be in the hands of Afghan people.”
The Bagram Air Base, once the largest US military base in Afghanistan, was vacated when American forces withdrew in 2021. Its location, less than 400 kilometers from China’s western border, has long made it geopolitically significant.