Beijing is interested in the country's untapped mineral wealth
China waits to enter Afghanistan after US troops withdraw
Biden (R) promised Ghani to continue to support and not to abandon Afghanistan.
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The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan leaves a void to be filled by China.
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Afghanistan is sometimes described as the "graveyard of empires" because of its ability to resist and inflict disproportionate losses on more powerful nations.
The British Empire lost a four-year conflict there, from 1839 to 1842, although it managed to achieve some of its goals in a second war 40 years later.
The writer and journalist, Trevor Felsth, says in a report published by the American magazine "National Interest", that the Soviet Union faced defeat at the hands of armed Islamists backed by the United States during the eighties of the last century, a conflict that ultimately led to the bankruptcy of Moscow and hastened the demise of the Soviet Union.
After the events of September 11, 2001, Felseth explains, the United States invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban government, but it quickly became mired in its own insurgency.
Last April, US President Joe Biden announced that US forces would withdraw from Afghanistan because the United States had achieved its 2001 goals and negotiated a peace agreement with the Taliban.
Although the Taliban flagrantly violated the peace agreement, the US withdrawal from the country is now almost complete, with very few US troops in the country.
Biden recently announced that despite the progress made by the Taliban movement inside Afghan territory, the US forces will complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of next August, adding that the withdrawal will be completed on August 31, and until that date, the process will continue.
In their meeting at the White House last month, while the US withdrawal was moving forward, the US president told his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, that the United States would continue to support his country, promising $266 million in humanitarian aid and $3.3 billion in security.
At least 1,000 Afghan soldiers withdrew last week to Tajikistan, prompting the country to mobilize an additional 20,000 troops to guard its borders.
Alarms
The Taliban's rapid advance to seize more territory in Afghanistan has raised alarms from Russia to China, where the withdrawal of US forces has upset the balance of power in South Asia, which has been stable for nearly two decades.
In an interview with Fox News, researcher Gordon Chang speculated that the next major force expected to enter Afghanistan might be China, which seeks to benefit from the US withdrawal by expanding political and economic ties there.
"China very much wants to enter Afghanistan," Zhang said, referring to Beijing's interest in Afghanistan's untapped mineral wealth and its ability to invest under the Belt and Road Initiative. He also noted that China has an interest in denying anti-Chinese Uyghur elements a safe haven in Afghanistan, having found safety there. Afghanistan and Tajikistan share a rugged 80-kilometer border along its northeastern corridor, on the border with China's controversial Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. However, Zhang stressed that it is likely that expansion into Afghanistan - whether military or otherwise - will come at a significant negative cost to Beijing. He cited the ongoing Chinese conflict with India, which has a significant impact in Kabul, stressing that Indian leaders could then target Chinese infrastructure in Afghanistan during any future conflict between the two Asian powers.He noted that the United States could also impose costs on China, using its own communications.
Upcoming visit
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who plans to travel to Central Asia for talks on Afghanistan, warned last week that the most urgent task in Afghanistan was to "maintain stability and prevent war and chaos".
Zhang also noted that while China has maintained successful foreign missions in other volatile regions, such as Darfur in western Sudan, the mission in Afghanistan requires a much greater commitment, and China will find it very difficult to leave once committed, as it has with other major powers.
More generally, despite the Taliban's attacks, Chang supported Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan, on the basis of realigning US grand strategy against China and redeploying US forces accordingly.
During their meeting at the White House last month, as the US withdrawal was moving forward, the US president told his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, that the United States would continue to support his country, promising $266 million in humanitarian aid and $3.3 billion in security.
• The rapid progress of the "Taliban" to control more lands has raised alarms from Russia to China.
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