[Global Issue+] China Holds First Talks with Taliban, Formerly Labeled Rebels... "Ban on Xinjiang Uyghur Support"

Concerns Over Islamic Forces Uprising in Xinjiang Uyghur
Urgent Diplomatic Relations Amid Fears of Pro-American Regime Collapse

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Chinese government has recently attracted worldwide attention as it reportedly engaged in diplomatic negotiations with the Afghan armed group, the Taliban, for the first time. Until now, the Chinese government had been treating the Taliban as insurgents while promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (land and maritime Silk Road) with the current Afghan government. However, with the rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops and the Taliban's expected takeover of Afghanistan, China is said to have hastily changed its diplomatic approach.

According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), on the 28th of last month, a Taliban delegation met with Wang Yi, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister, in Tianjin. The Taliban delegation was led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founding members of the Taliban, who visited Tianjin. It is reported that China promised not to obstruct the Taliban's control over Afghanistan if the Taliban refrained from supporting the "East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM)" in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

China's Concerns Over Taliban and Xinjiang Uygur Links

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The Chinese government’s greatest concern is the reported connection between the Taliban and the Xinjiang Uygur insurgent group ETIM. In fact, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Afghanistan are connected by a narrow corridor area called Tashkurgan in western Xinjiang, and many Afghans are known to reside in this border region. Historically, there have been frequent contacts between Afghan and Xinjiang Uygur Muslims.

In the 19th century, the Kokand Khanate, an Islamic state that held significant power across Central Asia including Afghanistan, invaded the Xinjiang Uygur region. During the Taiping Rebellion in China around 1860, the Kokand Khanate’s invasion led to the occupation of Xinjiang and parts of western China. In response, the Qing Dynasty dispatched a large army in 1876 and fought a fierce five-year war. During this period, Japan took advantage of the situation to forcibly open Joseon (Korea) through the Unyo Incident.

China is reportedly worried that such modern history might repeat itself. The Taliban is demanding active economic support from China in exchange for not supporting ETIM. Earlier, on the 7th of last month, Suhail Shaheen, Taliban spokesperson, emphasized in an interview with The Week in Asia, a magazine affiliated with SCMP, that "separatist forces from Xinjiang will not be allowed to enter Afghanistan."

Afghanistan at the Center of the Belt and Road Initiative

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Another urgent reason for China’s efforts to build relations with the Taliban is the Belt and Road Initiative. According to CNN, China is currently making massive investments in road, railway, and pipeline projects connecting Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. Afghanistan is located at a strategic gateway from China to Central Asia and borders Pakistan, India, and Iran, making it a critical point for the success or failure of the entire Belt and Road project.

According to the BBC, China supported the Mujahideen, the predecessor of the Taliban, in the 1980s to help fight the Soviet Union. However, after the U.S.-Afghan war in 2001 led to the Taliban’s fall, China supported the current pro-U.S. government. The Belt and Road projects were also being pursued with the Afghan government, but with the decision for U.S. troop withdrawal and the increasing likelihood of the Taliban regaining power, the entire project faces the risk of collapse.

As a result, China, which is in conflict with the U.S. globally, has opposed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The U.S. troop withdrawal has turned the region into a power vacuum, raising concerns that the interests of neighboring major powers such as Russia, India, and Pakistan will become even more entangled.