When Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited China [in March], his hosts pulled out all the stops. During his three days in Beijing, Karzai met not only with Chinese President Hu Jintao but also with Premier Wen Jiabao and the Politburo Standing Committee member Wu Bangguo. Karzai signed agreements with Chinese leaders on economic cooperation, technical training, and preferential tariffs for Afghan exports.
It was Karzai’s fourth trip to China as Afghanistan’s president and the latest sign that, as Washington shows its impatience with the Karzai regime (pressuring it, for example, on electoral reform), Kabul is beginning to look for new supporters and patrons. As the regional hegemon, China is the obvious choice. … The interest appears to be mutual. With U.S. President Barack Obama having set a deadline of July 2011 to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, China is increasingly aware that it will soon have a pivotal role in Afghanistan’s security and that of the whole region.
China’s interests in Afghanistan are twofold: security and trade. Afghanistan remains a source of instability to China’s west. … China has an active interest in ensuring that the Afghan military is effectively able to guard the border separating the two countries. … Trade and development assistance form an even larger part of the burgeoning Afghan-Chinese relationship. Although the Afghan economy accounts for just one-tenth of one percent of China’s overall trade portfolio, the possibility of cheap resources on its border is of significant interest to Beijing. Access the full article>>
