Chinese Whispers: will China become Afghanistan's new sponsor?

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🗓️ 20 August 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

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Summary

Last month, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed senior Taliban leaders to Beijing, standing shoulder to shoulder for the photographers. China is carefully watching events unfold in Afghanistan. And while it hasn’t yet recognised the Taliban government, the Beijing meeting was a nod towards a potential alliance.

But replacing America in Afghanistan wouldn’t be without its risks – can Beijing succeed where Washington failed? America's 20 year mission in the country cost lives and money. And what would a closer alliance mean for China’s Xinjiang policy, considering the close links that the Taliban has historically had with militant Uyghur groups?

Cindy Yu speaks to Tom Miller, author of China's Asian Dream, and Dr Mike Martin, author of An Intimate War and former British Army officer in Helmand.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Spectator magazine combines incisive political analysis with books and arts reviews of unrivaled authority. Absolutely free. Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher.
0:31.5	Hello and welcome to Chinese Whispers with me, Cindy Yu. Every episode, I'll be talking to
0:36.4	journalists, experts and long-time China I'll be talking to journalists, experts,
0:42.0	and long-time China watches about the latest in Chinese politics, society and more.
0:45.5	There'll be a smattering of history to catch you up on the background knowledge and some context as well.
0:47.5	How did the Chinese see these issues?
0:50.8	Last month, the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi welcomed senior Taliban leaders to Beijing,
0:56.0	standing shoulder to shoulder for the photographers.
0:59.0	China is carefully watching events unfolding Afghanistan.
1:02.0	And while it hasn't yet recognized the Taliban government, the Beijing meeting was a nod towards a potential alliance.
1:08.0	But replacing America in Afghanistan wouldn't be without its risks.
1:12.9	Can Beijing really succeed where Washington has failed? America's 20-year mission there has had a high
1:18.2	cost both in terms of lives and money. And what would a closer alliance mean for the Uyghur minority
1:23.7	who lived to the west of China, considering the close links that the Taliban has traditionally had with Uyghur militant groups. To discuss, I'm joined today by two experts. Tom Miller
1:33.7	is author of China's Asian Dream and an expert on China's strategy on the continent. And Dr. Mike
1:39.6	Martin is author of An Intimate War and a former British Army officer who served in Afghanistan.
1:46.0	Tom, to start with, what do you think Beijing will have made of events in the last few weeks?
1:50.0	There's a lot of analysis flying around that the West retreat is a victory for China.
1:53.6	I would say that's far too simple.
1:55.8	I mean, obviously, you can say ostensibly that anything that is bad for the US and bad for the US allies is good for
2:04.0	China. Okay, so, you know, this has obviously been very bad for the credibility of the US and anything
2:09.7	that makes them look bad, you know, Beijing is going to be happy. The same time, though, what Beijing
	...

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