As US pulls out of Afghanistan, China sees opportunities -- and potential for chaos

SSG Robert Mark Odom
"Speaking to state media this week, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, warned that even "if the Afghan government and Taliban reach an agreement to form a new government peacefully ... we should be prepared for any other possibility."
This could mean greater military engagement in the region: China has ramped up its foreign troop presence in recent years, and there have long been unconfirmed reports of People's Liberation Army soldiers operating in Afghanistan. Beijing has also increased its military cooperation with Pakistan and set up a presence in the port of Gwadar, the closest port to landlocked Afghanistan.
Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Washington-based Stimson Center, wrote this week that Chinese experts are divided "on whether the US withdrawal from Afghanistan presents more challenges or opportunities," pointing out that while the presence of American troops on its border was never welcome, the Afghan quagmire did create a welcome distraction for Washington.
Even by inaction, let alone active interference, the US could easily make Afghanistan a security headache for Beijing, one that distracts China militarily from its major areas of focus in the South China Sea and the border with India."

If I was China I would look at Afghanistan with economic and military perspectives. I know China was trying to mine minerals out of Afghanistan, but I don't know how lucrative it was. What is Afghanistan's strategic importance to China?

In general if I was China I would support rebels that the US is fighting. We spend a lot of money fighting insurgents, a lot more than the insurgents spend.

Strategically speaking China has been a lot more proactive than the US. They are using the belt and road iniative to make economic inroads in many countries. They have purchased something like 40 long-term port leases in many countries. They lay claim to South China Sea and have taken over or made some islands in that sea. Our response was trying to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland. One saving grace is many Asian countries trust us more than they trust China. For example the Philippines refused access to land to China because her defense minister said he trusts the US more than China.

If I was China I would try to do what the Japanese did in WWII. Occupy various islands or countries in a large area. That will make it much more dangerous for our navy to enter the South China Sea. The stupid Australians sold a 99 lease of Port Darwin to China but I heard that they ripped up the contract.

LOL!! China has it's own problems with Muslims. But what gets me is how they are treated by Muslims compared to how we are treated by Muslims. Evidently that hatred for us stemming from Reagan and Bush SR. runs too deep.