Why China wants Taliban regime in Afghanistan to thrive
- China needs neighbouring Afghanistan to remain relatively stable, and sees the Taliban as providing that option, observer says
- Invites to China-led forums such as the belt and road summit seen as ‘low-cost way to signal support’
One such was Haji Nooruddin Azizi, acting commerce minister of the Taliban, the militant group running Afghanistan and yet to be recognised as a legitimate government by the international community.
Analysts read the invite as a signal of support for the regime, as Beijing seeks to strengthen ties with Afghanistan after the US military exit from Kabul in 2021.
China, they suggest, has “vested interests” in engaging with the Taliban and raising its profile on the world stage, including a desire to portray itself as a responsible and inclusive world power.
According to the observers, Beijing could potentially play a big role in boosting the Afghan economy, with some major Chinese firms likely to soon buy into the war-stricken Central Asian country.
Raffaello Pantucci, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said China has been consistent in its support for the Taliban on the world stage and “boosting them and their authority at every turn”.
“This is part of a strategy to embrace them tightly,” he said. “China has become the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan’s most important partner on the world stage.”
