China urges the international community to refrain from putting pressure on Afghanistan during its ongoing power transition, as well as from using it as a score-settling battleground, the country's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday during a phone call with his UK counterpart, Dominic Raab.

'The international community should encourage and guide [Afghanistan] in a positive direction instead of exerting more pressure,' the translation of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's statement reads.

'This is conducive to the early political transition of the Taliban and all parties and factions in Afghanistan, is conducive to stabilizing the domestic situation in Afghanistan, and is conducive to reducing the impact of refugees and immigrants.' Moreover, according to Wang, under the basis of non-interference in its internal affairs, China is willing to continue to 'play a constructive role on the Afghan issue.' The Chinese foreign minister underlined that with the insurgent group's coming to power, the situation in the war-torn country remains unstable and uncertain.

Wang also noted to the foreign secretary that the current situation in Afghanistan demonstrates that the Afghans, in general, do not support the externally imposed government which 'lacks a social foundation.' He then stressed that military intervention is not an option for resolving regional hotspot concerns.