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Why China is still on the sidelines in Afghanistan, 2 years after messy US troop pull-out

  • China has made no secret of its joy over the US Afghan debacle, mocking the rival power for failing to learn ‘profound lessons’ from the ‘Kabul moment’
  • But it has been reluctant to fill the void, with pundits citing ‘no illusions about great influence over the Taliban’ and lingering security risks

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Illustration: Davies Christian Surya

The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 continues to be seen as a “black mark” on Joe Biden’s presidency – a chaotic and deadly exit that left the war-torn country in a security vacuum as the Taliban swiftly advanced on Kabul.

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Two years on, Afghans are still struggling under one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with most international aid, including from the United States, suspended following the Taliban takeover.
But no major power, not even neighbouring China, appears keen to fill the void that Washington left after its nearly 20-year troop deployment sparked by the September 11 terror attacks.

Afghanistan’s severe food insecurity, bleak security and economic situation, and the Taliban’s repressive policies against women and girls indicate that the strategic fallout from the messy end to the US military presence could be felt for many years to come, pundits said.

Despite being widely criticised over the US and Nato pull-out, Biden had remained defiant, defending the end of the “longest war in American history” as an “extraordinary success”, and claiming the Afghan exit would help the US focus its energies on the strategic rivalry with China.

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“There’s nothing China or Russia would rather have, would want more in this competition than the United States to be bogged down another decade in Afghanistan,” Biden said on August 31, 2021, in a statement marking the end of the evacuation operation.

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How 2 years of Taliban rule have transformed Afghanistan back to the past

How 2 years of Taliban rule have transformed Afghanistan back to the past
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