With economic assets to secure, China embraces the Taliban

Afghanistan’s stability is key to protect a copper mine, oil blocks, $50bn of Belt-and-Road projects in the neighbourhood.

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan the first time in 1996, China refused to recognize their rule and left its embassy shut for years. This time around, Beijing has been among the first to embrace the Islamist militants next door. China’s remarkable shift was on display little more than two weeks ago, when Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed a Taliban delegation to the northern port of Tianjin as the group made gains against the administration of President Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country on Sunday. Wang’s endorsement of the Taliban’s “important role” in governing Afghanistan provided a crucial boost of legitimacy for an organization that has long been a global pariah due to its support of terrorism and the repression of women. China’s reasons have as much to do with its own rise as a global power as the Taliban’s surprisingly swift march on the Afghan capital. China today commands an economy worth $14.7 trillion — more than 17 times its size in 1996 — and a massive trade-and-infrastructure initiative that stretches across the Eurasian landmass.