China Makes Strategic Move Towards Afghan Mining Investments

Afghanistan energy infrastructure and natural resources are now more in jeopardy following the exit of the United States troops and the ascendance of the Taliban.

Gatekeepers News had reported that Afghanistan fell to the Taliban and the nation’s President, Ashraf Ghani had fled on Sunday.

This implies that the Taliban are also in control of the nation’s stock of natural resources and other infrastructure. Strategic competitors including China and Russia will seize the opportunities in lucrative development projects that boost their regional ambitions.

Afghanistan holds an estimated 1.4 million tons of rare earth elements (REEs), minerals crucial for the production of renewable energy technology, its potential for copper and gold makes it a prime target of investment for China.

On Monday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, Hua Chunying disclosed that Beijing will pursue a constructive role in establishing “peace and reconstruction” in Afghanistan.

On its part, Russia only ordered a partial evacuation of its Kabul embassy staff, according to Putin’s special representative to Afghanistan.

“Our embassy will stay in contact with specially assigned representatives of the Taliban higher leadership to work out a permanent mechanism of ensuring safety of our embassy and continued communication.”

Signalling acceptance of the Taliban as a legitimate military and governmental entity, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted senior Taliban political leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in late July. Since then, state-run media has underscored Beijing’s commitment to filling the void left by the United States. This has been welcomed by the Taliban, who have invited China to play a role in economic development.

Gatekeepers News reports that some major infrastructure projects in Afghanistan are at risk with the potential Taliban-Chinese government partnership.

These, according to a report by Forbes, include “the much-speculated Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan India gas pipeline or TAPI. Construction of TAPI halted in the 1990s due to political instability during the first stint of Taliban power (1996-2001), but was then revived in 2018. Though project development was supported by senior Taliban officials, the nature of conflict may pause construction due to mass migration and violence.

“Then there is Afghanistan’s portion of the CASA-1000 project — a regional initiative designed to export excess hydro-power from energy-rich Central Asia to energy-poor South Asia via connected electric grids.

“Similarly, a multi-billion-dollar railway construction project linking Uzbekistan and Pakistan via Mazari-Sharif and eventually Kabul and Peshawar are likely to be delayed. This would be a great opening for the Central Asian exports to the Pakistani ports on the Indian Ocean. As the Taliban gains control over the country, railway companies will undoubtedly face trouble in providing security and recruiting skilled laborers to work in the country.

“The waning of U.S. protective, financial, and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan has presented opportunities for insidious actors from Beijing to Pyongyang and from Moscow to Teheran. Implications stemming from the U.S. strategic mismanagement and precipitous troop withdrawal expand beyond economic development. Clear understanding of US failures to meaningfully predict the devastating speed of the Taliban onslaught have severely undermined our credibility to enemies and allies alike.”