Written by Ra.Nithy
Now China is very interested in Afghanistan for the benefits of geopolitics in this situation in Afghanistan is now very serious. Even though the Taliban already had their controls in the countryside, they intended to move slowly and attack Kabul. Taliban forces besieged Kabul within 24 hours of US talks after concluding the withdrawal of US forces in late August. It is alleged that the incident has led to a large number of US weapons going into their hands as if American is diplomacy had hurt the US itself and shown its weakness.
It seems to be like a film scene in Kabul where a section of people horrifying about the past experience about Taliban, run for planes and try to escape with neighboring countries longing across borders
The US withdrawal is now understood as a geopolitical threat, as was the Soviet military loss in 1980. Beijing has so far looked at these two things with no concern. but China has taken the afghan actions of the US, its strategic objectives, and its diplomatic activities as an experiential lesson.
China is now using its largest competitive method in Afghanistan. In this way, it is possible to retain its interests through such diplomatic activities and to realize in advance that Afghanistan is being used for its expansionist argument.
There are four main reasons why China is interested in Afghanistan. It was not today and yesterday that the long-term plan. China had been waiting for until this scenario came is that the scenario has come now there are four main factors that China is interested in Afghanistan
Why China cares about the Taliban and Afghanistan?
1. Setting up a background for economic expansion
2. To establish their new trade markets in the Middle East and Central Asia to get their economic benefits.
3. To establish a wide security zone for its country and protect itself from enemy countries.
4 To provide means for achieving its objective through military and political strategies.
China’s geopolitics is an opportunity for such activities. That is, China has a long border with its neighbors. Afghanistan is very important for China to connect Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh to the north of India and Iran and the Middle East countries and Pakistan to the east, as well as the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean to the western border.
The previous US-based Afghan situation and US military positions have so far been a stumbling block for China to further its Silk Road project through Afghanistan. Now that the Taliban’s return to Afghanistan is in China’s favor, the conditions today make it possible for China to use it for making the most of geopolitics.
China’s Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) continue to expand. As part of this, details of a 25-year strategic partnership between China and Iran have recently come to light.
The EPEC agreement provides for $ 400 billion over 25 years in 5G telecommunications, infrastructure, banking, and free trade zones, although this has sparked heated debate among Iranian netizens. And, controversially, the broader expansion of military cooperation, including intelligence sharing and weapons design. It reveals China’s intrinsic intentions.
China, however, plans to reap the greatest benefits of this strategic plan. For this, the terrain in Afghanistan is very important to China. The only way to deal with such a crisis is to build a land route through Afghanistan. China intends that this is a better way to communicate with Pakistan and the Middle East.
The US has imposed economic sanctions on Iran. However, China has improved its trade relations, not taking into account the economic blockade. The ban was therefore an opportunity to obtain natural gas oil resources, nuclear programs, and equipment from China. China is also Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner. China is importing more oil from Saudi Arabia.
Even though Saudi Arabia was an enemy of Iran, China had the trick of maintaining a balance on both sides and doing the work in its case. But the relationship between China and Saudi Arabia is not one with deep diplomatic boundaries. while china is well aware that Iran is following the policies of Sunni Muslims and the two countries are at odds, china does not take note of the hostility and seeks to improve its bilateral relations. China, therefore, expects Afghanistan to act as a reconciliation facilitator between the two countries, and it is believed that relations with Afghanistan will help.
However, relations between Beijing and Tehran could have a wide range of implications for South Asia, especially Pakistan. Why does China show such interest in Afghanistan? there are many factors to that. Another important geopolitics is that India sends a naval task force to the South China Sea to expand security ties with allies. China signaled its intention to play a bigger role in the regional efforts facing China.
The Indian military has traditionally been wary of opposing China, and the situation hardened last year following clashes between the two sides on the disputed Indo-China Ladakh land border. The Indian government has become close to the US in its efforts against China. US President Joe Biden said, “This encourages India to take on China firmly.
Given this situation, the Indo-Pacific nations have already formed an informal group, the Quattro. “Quadrilateral Security Dialog” is also known as QST, Quad. It is a strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India. By 2021 the leaders of these four countries shared concerns about China’s increasingly negative behavior in the region and agreed to pursue a merger course against China, and these countries are very ready to define a constructive agenda for cooperation. Its activities will depend on the future. But earlier in November 2020, all four navies participated in their first joint exercise
In March 2021, US President Joe Biden convened a quartet meeting attended by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshi Hyde. They sought to integrate the Govt-19 vaccines, climate change, and technological innovation, and supply chain recession, and shared geo-diplomatic source strategies.
These maritime efforts enhance the integration between the Indian Navy and its allies, which are events that are greatly embarrassing to China. As part of the deployment of these countries, Indian ships engaged in annual joint military exercises with the United States, Japan, and Australia off the coast of Guam.
In this context, China feels that the Afghanistan land route is the only way to deal with such a crisis. China also feels that this is a great way to connect with Pakistan and the Middle East.
Although China does not abandon its South China Sea route, China believes that the transport link through Afghanistan is beyond such barriers and that the one-road one belt project.
It will help China maintain ties with countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and strengthen its confidence in China. China says the CPEC to be China’s economic base, so CPEC is one of the SREP (Both Maritime Silk Road) components of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
CPEC China’s Belt and Road Project is the largest, and most ambitious project of Chinese policymakers. This is described as the primary project of PRI.
The next project aims to build a long-distance route from Kabul to Pakistan through the CPEC project. China plans to transport coal, copper, iron ore, talc, oil, gas, and oil to China after laying the route from Kabul to Kabul via Peshawar.
But as far as Pakistan is concerned, there are no other special projects so far other than setting up a transport route to China through Pakistan. China has not shown much interest in the Pakistan issue. The basic reason for this is that China believes that the investments made in China are being misused by the country’s administrators. So there are no large-scale investment projects for China beyond that once the Silk Road project is completed.
On the other hand, Afghanistan has not yet been seen as an ally of China, and its airspace has been blocked. It is noteworthy that China is now able to carry out free air travel due to the Taliban rule.
Therefore, China wants a stable and firm government in Afghanistan if the Silk Road project, security plan, and other economic strategic plans that China envisages are to succeed smoothly. China wants a hardline Taliban government to replace it with a soft-spoken government.
China’s common enemy is the United States, Britain, and Western European countries, so China believes that Iran and the Taliban are unlikely to clash for the time being and wants to use this as a reserve.
But in the midst of these conditions, it is impossible to say what will happen in the future. Iran also fears that the Taliban will seize control of Afghanistan and build up its military presence. There are fears of a religious conflict with the Taliban.
Iran fears that the Taliban will always be Sunni Muslims and that Salafi power will correspond accordingly. And if the US and the Taliban are the tip of the iceberg, it will not be an option for Iran.
Another type of headache for Iran is the presence of Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq to the south of Iran, and the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE surrounding Iran, which will no doubt provide economic opportunities for China.
In this context, when the Taliban seized power, China overtook the country and recognized it. This is nothing but purely based on China’s future interests. Iran, on the other hand, believes that china’s energy will always provide Iran with security.
But China’s dream will come true in the future, depending on how firmly the US and Western nations allow all of the above to lead the Taliban to rule the country. Even if the Taliban behave in a slightly contradictory manner, there is a risk of a major war erupting in the future
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