China’s Afghanistan Plan: US withdrawal provides opportunity for Beijing; Pak watches on
21 June, 2021 | Rakshanda Afrin
China has been a key player in regard to Afghanistan. Many geopolitical experts believe that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan will create a geopolitical vacuum.
Many geopolitical experts believe that the US withdrawal from Afghanistan will create a geopolitical vacuum and this could represent an opportunity for Beijing to expand its geopolitical influence westward. Xi Jinping might be using novel tactics in managing the Afghan problem, possibly establishing a quadruplet of states.
China has been a key player in regard to Afghanistan and interests in Afghanistan, with which it shares an 80 km border, have grown complex over the past decade. The US troop withdrawal plans have fanned both short- and long-term fears in China. In recent times Afghanistan hosted alleged Uyghur extremist organizations that seek an independent Xinjiang and in several instances groups that have been blamed by China for terrorist attacks that occurred in the 1990s-2000s.
China also has looming fear that the American withdrawal from the Middle East and Afghanistan might prove beneficial to Washington as it will serve two important goals for America. China has made tremendous progress in fortifying its position in this area.