Mayhem by the Taliban

THERE was a time when Mao Zedong’s grandson oversaw one of China’s most clandestine operations — gun-running on a massive scale in the 1980s for the Mujahideen, the Taliban’s forerunners. China officially shut its embassy in 1993 but never cut off ties with the Taliban. Had 9/11 not happened, it would have been the first non-Muslim country to recognise the Taliban. Post 9/11, China has maintained a delicate balance with rival political forces in close coordination with its ‘Iron Brother’ Pakistan. Though commercial exploitation is yet to begin, and the Afghan government is anxious about the delay, Chinese metallurgical giants are holding on to the world’s second largest copper deposit at Mes Aynak. ZTE was to run phone services in Kabul and Huawei in Kandahar. China also bagged the first contract for the Amu Darya oil field.

With the American military withdrawal nearly complete, experts suggest a rise in China’s clout, partly due to Beijing’s strategic relationship with Pakistan. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has belatedly woken up to the ongoing violence that kills 200-600 people in Afghanistan every day. Beneath his sympathy for the Afghans lies the US worry that it might have left the field open for a China-Pakistan symphony in Kabul. Moscow, too, has been making noises about the security situation and arguing for a negotiated political settlement to end this conflict.

Beijing may draw solace from the latest Taliban statement that it will not allow attacks on Chinese interests. But in Afghanistan, there is many a slip ’twixt cup and lip, as several ill-fated Chinese projects and the killing of Chinese workers in Afghanistan show. China may have burnt its fingers by bonding with armed groups, but America’s hands-off policy so far could tempt Beijing to try its hand once again. A Pakistan-China stranglehold with the help of the Taliban is certain to plunge the country into a deeper vortex of violence, for Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic and not just Pashtun land. To truly end the danger in Afghanistan, it has to be a roundabout and not a one-way road as China and Pakistan are striving for.