Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that China has not yet decided on forming a government in Afghanistan and the future of its relationship with the Taliban, but Beijing has expressed its intention to continue direct contacts with the movement, which now controls most of Afghanistan, after the withdrawal of US forces from it. .

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that her country “maintains contact and communication with the Afghan Taliban”, and this is confirmed by the Taliban leaders, which raises questions about the goal that China seeks to achieve behind this.

Political, economic and security implications

China is currently studying how to deal with the biggest change in the environment in the past 20 years, in which Afghanistan is about to return to the rule of the Taliban.

As for the South Asia Institute – affiliated with the China Institute of Modern International Relations – it believes that the developments of the situation in Afghanistan will have an indirect impact on Central Asia, Pakistan and the Middle East, which will then affect the stability of China’s borders and the construction of the “Belt and Road”, the region and the world, stressing on that China participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan in the future.

The director of the South Asian Institute, Hu Shisheng, added that China will benefit from its contacts with the Taliban in an attempt to influence 3 main areas, namely politics, economy and security.

Economically, China seeks to develop its relationship with Afghanistan, which it considers part of China’s development, and the signs of this appeared through the dialogue mechanism of the foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan and the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, from which Kabul will eventually benefit, Hu Shisheng said.

He added that China, by strengthening its contacts with the Taliban, will promote and strengthen the anti-terror cause in both countries, taking advantage of the promises made by the movement’s leaders on various occasions “not to allow any forces to use Afghan territory to carry out actions that endanger China’s security.”

The head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, expressed during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, last week, the United States’ concern about “Chinese incursions into Israeli economic facilities, especially in the areas of high-tech and large infrastructure projects,” according to these days, the Walla website quoted Israeli officials familiar with the details of the meeting.

The projects implemented by Chinese government and private companies in Israel were the focus of tension between the administration of former US President Donald Trump and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. At the time, the United States warned Israel of the Chinese incursion into Israel through major infrastructure projects, including the construction of the new Haifa port and the municipal train in the Tel Aviv area.

Netanyahu had deepened Israel’s relations with China during his 12-year tenure as prime minister, and encouraged China’s entry into the Israeli market. Netanyahu has stalled in responding to the Trump administration’s messages to restrict Chinese activities.

Israeli officials added that Bennett told Burns that he understands the Biden administration’s concerns and is a partner in part of it as well. In this context, Bennett cited as an example of his concern the recent reports of Chinese cyber attacks against Israeli hi-tech companies in the last two years.

One of the Israeli officials said that “in recent months, we have started a dialogue with the Biden administration about China. The United States asked us about certain projects, such as Chinese involvement in the metro project in central Israel. We told the Americans that we would welcome American companies to build large infrastructure projects in Israel, however, no US company submitted tenders.”

Officials in the US Departments of State and Defense said during Senate hearings last week that the Biden administration had warned countries in the Middle East that China was not concerned with security and stability in the region, and that the increasing Chinese incursion into its economy might eventually target the sovereignty of these countries. and its security relations with the United States.

One US official said the United States does not oppose trade relations between China and “our partners and allies in the Middle East, but we have made it clear to them that there is a certain kind of cooperation that we cannot live with.”

Israeli officials expected to hold further talks with the Biden administration on the Chinese issue in the coming weeks and months, with the participation of the Israeli National Security Council and the US National Security Council. It is also expected that the Chinese issue will be one of the central topics during Biden and Bennett’s meeting at the White House, next Thursday.