There is no question that Afghanistan contains rich pickings for whoever is prepared to offer recognition, support and funding to The Taliban. They may not offer 'friendship'; but money talks!
Above is Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yi, in talks with The Taliban over future trade, and 'humanitarian aid'.
Bets are mostly on China to bid for expensive mining contracts. Estimates suggest that there is anywhere between £1 and £3 Trillion worth of minerals waiting to be mined.
Lithium, Copper, Coal, Gold, Iron, and Bauxite, are amongst the prizes waiting to be harvested. No doubt China will take the Lion's share.
The Taliban might possibly build an ill-equipped hospital, a piss-poor university, and repair a few holes in the roads, but the majority of Chinese cash will go to buy military equipment, and Afghanistan will become an even more serious danger to world peace.
Mineral-rich China will then flood the world with even more High Tech gizmos, and their world domination will strengthen. The future is Chinese.
20 years presence, $2 Trillion spent, and around 2,500 US and UK lives lost. Now we are forced out by a rag-bag army with AK47's. Possibly the worst humiliation in military history for two of the world's most powerful nations;..... and it looks as if China will go on to reap the benefits.
And all the time it is the ordinary people who suffer.
ReplyDeleteAnd will suffer for years to come.
DeleteWe may as well let the Chinese exploit the Afghani mineral wealth; it's no use to us as we aren't allowed to use any of it first hand. Not be long before we won't be able to heat our homes but no worries.
ReplyDeleteWe're certainly handing it to the Chinese on a plate. I wonder if the ER people are being funded by them?
DeleteDon' know about ER but Biden is certainly creaming the loot in.
Delete10 percent for the Big Guy as usual! Biden is so utterly corrupt and the media covers for him. It's appalling.
DeleteAbout ten years ago a friend said we would soon be sewing shirts in sweatshops for the Chinese. Your predictions send a chill down my spine but I feel they are realistic.
ReplyDeleteI've had a feeling for some while that the dumbing-down of Western countries (especially the UK), is a way of saying 'we've had our day, now it's someone else's turn'. It looks like the turn of China, and we're all going along with it.
DeleteOh well, I think I'll just have to keep up my wine intake and will have dropped off my perch before everything has completely unravelled.
ReplyDeleteI feel so sorry for my grandsons; they have no idea what's in store for them.
DeleteWhile I don't know what it is, China must have a weak point somewhere. Better that world and its wealth is shared rather just owned by China and the West.
ReplyDeleteTheir weak point is that we stop buying their products, but when I look around me I seem to be surrounded by their stuff.
DeleteIf China takes the lion's share, the lion will not be happy. In revenge, he will probably roar before mauling the Chinese and eating them. Then he'll say, "I've always enjoyed a nice Chinese!" With lions it's not like "The Lion King".
ReplyDeleteI'll have a NO 3 and a No 12.
DeleteWhile we fret and harness ourselves with impossible targets re. zero emissions and climate change, the Chinese will continue to make hay.
ReplyDeleteOne has to wonder what they intend to do with all the Coal they want to mine.
DeleteI have been thinking the same for years. While we spend precious time recycling (we suppose) our rubbish, too many nations are busy polluting their own environments to make as much money as possible and care nothing for the planet, wildlife or even their own people. We're just tinkering with the problem.
DeleteYet, if the Taliban were in China they would be sent for compulsory re-education.
ReplyDeleteWith all that that entails!!!
DeleteI'm thinking the Chinese should "reap while the reaping is good." The Taliban will probably quickly fragment - again - once there is no common enemy to hold them together. I've been re-reading the Sherlock Holmes stories lately. Dr. Watson had just arrived in London as a wounded military surgeon back from - wait for it - Afghanistan. Not much changes, methinks.
ReplyDeleteI always think back to all those Hippies who passed through there in the 60's/70's. They probably didn't see too much of it; too much dope!
DeleteNot only dope. I travelled through Afghanistan in 67. A wonderful country with wonderful people. No comment on your post.
DeleteChina knows how to seize an opportunity. Afghan mineral rights are up for grabs. China can reproduce just about anything when they choose to do so. (Intellectual property means nothing.) The Chinese government uses a chop seal to authenticate contracts/business deals. A friend and M&A attorney representing a US company in China identified a seal as fraudulent and her life was threatened. Taliban might meet their match in dealing with China.
ReplyDeleteI do remember a case of the Chinese buying ONE TRACTOR from a UK Agricultural show. Almost before nightfall they had it in pieces and were manufacturing copies of the parts at once. They had their own version of the tractor within a few months! Enterprise if nothing else!
DeleteThe Chinese and the Russians are tip-toeing around the Taliban as can been seen from the two abstentions at last night's UN vote.
DeleteMust have been about twenty years ago when I jokingly suggested that soon we would all have to learn Chinese. I wish I had been wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou have it spot on here I think. I read you every day, but I would not normally admit to it. Call it pride if you like.
ReplyDelete