Afghan-China Mutual Security Interests

Abstract

The history of the Sino-Afghan relationship can be traced back to the 7th Century when Chinese monks traveled to Afghanistan through the Silk Road, to visit the Buddha statues in Bamyian, a province in Afghanistan. The continued China-Afghanistan relationship was disrupted following 9/11 and the subsequent US-NATO military presence in Afghanistan. The former played a leading role in the reconstruction of a new Afghan government and training of the Afghan forces. There was no Chinese involvement in Afghanistan during the US-NATO years. Instead, a mutual relationship was formed after the US-NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a post- 2014 combat forces withdrawal of the US-NATO forces, China started playing an active role in resolving the Afghan conflict. China has security interests in Afghanistan, and as long as the security threats in Afghanistan remain unsolved, China may hesitate to strengthen its economic and investment relationship with Afghanistan. When talking about the Chinese security interests in Afghanistan, East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is one of the grave concerns for China. In order to secure the China-Afghan relationship, the Chinese would require that the Afghan government contain ETIM and prevent their operation from Afghanistan. This is necessary so that ETIM is unable to function from Afghanistan and use the country as a safe haven for cross-bordered operations. Further, any subsequent strengthening of Afghan-China relations would require mutual interlards investment, and the success of investments is pegged on eliminating security threats. This paper discusses the Afghan-China mutual security interests and how an insecure Afghanistan is not only a threat to Chinese national security, but it will also have a grave impact on Chinese investment and the connectivity program of the region.