China pushing for stability in Afghanistan to meet its own ends

RATHER than filling the void of the United States, China is trying to play a constructive role in Afghanistan to enhance domestic security.

کد خبر: ۶۹۷۱۴۲

تاریخ: ۰۳ خرداد ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۹:۴۲

After all, instability in Afghanistan fuels the ambitions, capabilities, and impacts of terrorist organisations in Xinjiang, the historic homeland of the Uighur ethnic group in western China.

Through enhancing its influence in Afghanistan, China aims to outmaneuver Uighur terrorists and remove the possibility of terrorism in Afghanistan impacting security in Xinjiang.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced plans to revive the historic Silk Road that linked China and the West. The Belt and Road Initiative aims to connect over 60 countries in Asia and Europe along a route that has recently been announced to extend into Afghanistan.

The ambitious plan has garnered skepticism but Beijing is pushing ahead under the belief that enhancing development and economic cooperation in South and Central Asia will enhance domestic and regional security. This explains why Beijing is particularly worried about the emerging tension on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The relationship between China and Afghanistan is steadily growing, mainly in the areas of counter-terrorism, military ties, and development and economic cooperation.

But the role of China in Afghanistan remains limited. China has ignored actions by terrorist organisations in Afghanistan that are not directly harming Chinese interests, but instead Afghan civilians. Nor has China allowed for NATO operations along its border. Whether or not violence in Afghanistan crosses the border, China’s economic interests are under threat through instability in the country.

At the same time, China has pushed to influence the reconciliation process between the Taliban and the Afghan government and offered to act as a mediator thereafter. It has made clear it remains in direct contact with the Taliban, as evident through the number of meetings often held in Beijing or Urumqi. That said, China must be wary that expanding the influence of the Taliban in the Afghan political landscape will result in its heightened influence in the region.

Terrorism has plagued Afghanistan for decades, which fuels instability along the border with China. A fundamental impact of terrorism in Afghanistan is its potential to enhance the capability for Uighur terrorists to find safe havens across the border with support from other terrorist networks.

The dynamics of Islamic militancy has left terrorism without borders.

Instead, borders play a role in facilitating the success of terrorism. This is further complicated by the fluidity of Islamic militancy: some Uighur terrorists are fighting organisations like the Islamic State (IS) while others are travelling to Syria and Iraq to sign up. Meanwhile, Uighur terrorists have managed to conduct terrorist operations on a number of targets in China itself.

Recognising the potential for Uighur separatists to take advantage of terrorist activity, China is playing a proactive role in pushing for a stable Afghanistan.

On the one hand, China has to control domestic stability by silencing domestic Uighur separatist movements. But on the other hand, it must control the connection between Uighur terrorist organizations and international and regional terrorist organizations.

China has firmly acknowledged that security in Xinjiang is dependent on security in Afghanistan, which is one of the main reasons its pushing to influence events across the border.