China’s Many Dilemmas In Afghanistan

NEW DELHI: In this the second of our series to mark the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, StratNewsGlobal focuses on the China-Taliban connection with Dr. Raj Varma of Huaqiao University in Xiamen, China as our guest.

Dr. Varma argues that China seeks stability in Afghanistan for that is vital if the BRI is to expand. For this reason, Beijing tends to be “very pragmatic” about issues like women’s rights or human rights. Add to that Afghanistan is on China’s periphery, it harbours Uyghur terrorists that have long ties to the Taliban, and Beijing wants to ensure there is no trouble from them. Publicly the Taliban says it will not allow its soil to be used against neighbours, but the reality may be very different.

But more than 50 days after taking over Kabul, China’s dilemmas may have only grown. The world is not yet prepared to give diplomatic recognition to the Taliban regime. The “non-inclusive” nature of the interim Taliban government has strengthened the view that Taliban 2.0 is not different from Taliban 1.0 (1996-2001).