Over two years after the Biden administration abruptly pulled out of Afghanistan, China is sliding in with its eyes on the war-torn country’s natural resources.
China is being welcomed with open arms by the ruling Taliban government, according to a Pentagon audit.
What’s more, the Taliban are moving to warm relations with China, sending their first ambassador to Beijing, according to John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.
“On December 1, 2023, the new Taliban ambassador to China, Bilal Karimi, arrived in Beijing, marking the first ambassador the Taliban have sent to another country since seizing power in 2021. While no country formally recognizes the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, China does maintain an embassy in Kabul,” Sopko’s latest audit for Congress and shared with Secrets said.
The audit suggested the Taliban are campaigning for more Chinese investment.
It said the Taliban have “reportedly asked” to join the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Belt and Road Initiative.
Sopko said the Taliban’s acting commerce minister, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, has been very direct in wooing Chinese investment. He quoted Azizi saying, “China, which invests all over the world, should also invest in Afghanistan. … We have everything they need, such as lithium, copper, and iron.”
In the last year, China and the Taliban have inked a 25-year mining contract at Amu Darya, said to have the world’s third-largest oil and natural gas reserves. A Chinese firm is also investing in Afghan power generation and building a major cement factory.
While China has been investing for years in countries with rich natural resources needed to fuel its world-leading population and military plans, Sopko said there could be something more at play with both Beijing and Kabul.
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“A recent Afghanistan Analysts Network analysis of the Chinese-Taliban relationship raised some questions over the recent Chinese investment agreements with the Taliban. The report noted that Afghanistan has had a long history of exploiting its gas resources since mid-20th century,” the audit delivered to Congress last week said.
“Specifically, the analysis pointed to the familiar question of whether ‘the Chinese government is pursuing real economic interests’ in Afghanistan, or merely using these economic deals to incentivize the Taliban ‘to play along with its security interests,’” it added.
