President Joe Biden’s shameful handling of the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan has already resulted in terrible death, destruction, and chaos.
Biden insists that Afghanistan will not return to the days when it was a haven for international terrorism. The Taliban claim the same. Regardless, we know that the Emirate has at least one new friend.
China.
For months, Chinese Communist officials have been meeting with Taliban officials. As strange as it might appear for the normally anti-religion Chinese government to cozy up to Islamist extremists such as the Taliban, China has substantial geopolitical and economic interests in Afghanistan.
One top interest rests in ensuring that terrorists do not use Afghanistan as a base from which to destabilize China’s bordering Xinjiang province. China also has its eyes on a more lucrative prospect. Analysts believe that Afghanistan could hold energy and mineral deposits worth $1 trillion to $3 trillion, including what CNN recently reported could be “one of the world’s biggest deposits of lithium.”
Lithium is already valuable, but it’s likely to become even more important as Western politicians advance their “green” energy agenda. That’s because rare-earth minerals including lithium are essential for the production of wind turbines and solar panels. In a future world that depends on wind and solar power, whoever controls the lion’s share of the rare-earth minerals would have great power.
China has for decades been positioning itself to become the global leader in rare-earth minerals. The National Bureau of Asian Research notes, “China produces more than 80% of global output” of rare-earth metals, “and this dominance of the market puts it in a powerful bargaining position with the United States and other developed economies.”
It’s no surprise, then, that the Chinese have been so welcoming to the Taliban since the U.S.-supported government in Kabul collapsed. The Taliban have signaled they are also interested in making a deal.
After all, an energy investment arrangement would give the Taliban much-needed financial resources. Afghanistan remains one of the poorest nations on Earth, and a steady stream of income would have outsize value. The Taliban need at least some semblance of economic activity to maintain order. In addition, China’s presence in Afghanistan would make it difficult, if not impossible, for America or any other nation to return. Even, that is, if the country was crawling with terrorists.
Unfortunately, Biden’s Afghanistan debacle is not likely to end any time soon. China, too, has much to gain from Biden’s gift.
Justin Haskins ([email protected]) is the director of the Stopping Socialism Project at the Heartland Institute, where he is also a research fellow and editorial director.
