Taliban takeover in Afghanistan spurs China and other neighbours to consider their alliances

Following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, Beijing has identified stopping conflict spilling into its far western region of Xinjiang as a top priority

A plan has been floated for a buffer zone patrolled by the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation to be set up at the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border

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Taliban fighters stand guard at the main gate leading to the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday. Photo: AP

Published: 9:00pm, 18 Aug 2021Updated: 11:26pm, 18 Aug 2021

China and Central Asian countries bordering Afghanistan will be spurred by the Taliban takeover to further explore ways to cooperate, according to regional security experts.

This could include talks about setting up a “buffer zone” at the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border, according to Pan Guang, the director of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Studies Centre at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Following the Taliban’s takeover of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday, Beijing identified stopping conflict spilling into its far western region of Xinjiang as a top priority, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in a phone call on Monday.

It appears to be a concern shared by Afghanistan’s neighbours, with Iran sharing a border to the west, Pakistan to its east and south, and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan at its north.

China has taken part in several types of security cooperation with these countries, including a two-day joint anti-terrorism drill with Tajikistan on Wednesday. Beijing and Moscow have co-led the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Eurasian security alliance with Central and South Asian countries for anti-terrorism purposes and have emphasised cooperation on developments in Afghanistan.