The Reality of the Taliban + Kamala Harris' Asia Strategy + Gabriel Felbermayr • China.Table

Journalist Cem Sey on Afghanistan’s reality
Kamala Harris pleads for trust in Asia
Covid infection chains effectively stopped
Attack on Silk Road project in Pakistan
US criticizes lack of cooperation in fight against Fentanyl
DiDi’s Europe expansion postponed
Hong Kong now censors films retroactively
Gabriel Felbermayr: Decoupling from China could be expensive for Europe

Dear reader,

The chaotic situation in Afghanistan continues to dominate world affairs. Some observers believe that China can benefit from the Taliban’s takeover. But that is by no means a certainty, as the experienced journalist and Afghanistan expert Cem Sey explains in our interview today. Moreover, the economic opportunities in Afghanistan are often portrayed too optimistically, says Sey. China is still primarily concerned about security in the region. And rightly so, as another terrorist attack on Chinese engineers in Pakistan shows.

Meanwhile, US Vice President Kamala Harris has traveled to the Indo-Pacific to court confidence in Singapore and Vietnam. This is also happening against the backdrop of the hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Her message: we are still here, and we are reliable. The region is particularly concerned about China’s aspirations for dominance in the South China Sea. Chinese voices have already indicated that the chaos in Afghanistan does not bode well for Taiwan and other US allies. That makes the Harris visit seem all the more urgent.

Another ongoing debate revolves around a possible decoupling of Western economies from China. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) has made calculations on possible consequences, showing that a so-called decoupling would probably cost the Europeans dearly. IfW President Gabriel Felbermayr explains the details in today’s opinion piece As a media partner, China.Table will contribute to the institute’s discussion series called China Global Conversations.

I hope you will enjoy today’s issue!

Your
Christiane Kühl

Interview

“China and the Taliban have a pragmatic relationship with each other”.

Cem Sey Afghanistan Taliban China — *Journalist Cem Sey lived in Afghanistan for three years as a correspondent for Deutsche Welle.*

Will China fill the gap left by the US in the Hindu Kush? Not militarily, says journalist and former Afghanistan correspondent Cem Sey in an interview with China.Table. But Beijing’s pragmatic approach to the Taliban could bring economic opportunities to China, even if Afghanistan’s resource wealth is more of a myth. Felix Lee spoke with Sey.

Mr. Sey, after the West’s debacle in Afghanistan – is China the big beneficiary?

It is not yet possible to say that. Of course, after the fall of Kabul and the seizure of power by the Taliban, a geopolitical gap has emerged. The West will no longer fill this gap. And yes, China would like to have good relations with Afghanistan. The Chinese leadership has already announced as much. China also has good relations with Pakistan. And Pakistan is behind the Taliban.

This means that a region could emerge for the Chinese in which they could build railways and the like as part of their Belt and Road Initiative. But one obstacle remains: the Taliban’s proximity to violent Islamist terrorist groups. If extremists gain a foothold in Afghanistan, possibly supporting extremists among Uighurs in China, Beijing would not like that at all. That is why I think the Chinese will act very cautiously for the time being.

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