Afghanistan, China and the United States
I’m guessing that about twenty years ago while a bunch of politicians in Washington were saying “you know those fellers in China could sure be useful to us someday”, a gathering of politicians in Beijing agreed that “the Yankees are like hungry birds that fly too low and squawk too loudly.” China and the United States have crossed paths a lot in the past two decades.
Traditionally, US citizens purchase merchandise Made in China, and China lends our government enough money to underwrite our extravagances. But now the US and China are convening over a mining project in a highly volatile part of the planet. In the mountains south of Kabul, the US Army will provide security for a Chinese plan to extract raw materials from the Aynak copper reserves.
US troops have already enhanced their presence in the Logar province of Afghanistan, where Taliban fighters continue to harass them. The Army will also protect a dirt road which a Chinese firm is paving as part of a $3 billion project to begin mining in the region. But surely Chinese investors don’t expect the short attention span Americans to stick around forever. When US forces leave, the task of protecting the mines will presumably fall to Afghan soldiers and Chinese security personnel.
This investment by the Chinese shows a lot of faith in the future of central Asia. While the copper will provide resources to support Chinese manufacturing interests, the risks are substantial. For Afghanistan, the potential benefits are obvious, including private employment opportunities, infrastructure improvements and all of the benefits that flow from long term international investments.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:33 am
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