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>https://twitter.com/moiracathleen/status/1433952380589158400
From the linked article:
China uses supposed Islamist extremism to justify the Xinjiang crackdown—but has little problem dealing with the Taliban. Such deals surprise fewer Afghans, let alone Wakhis. Beijing has been actively conducting security and diplomatic operations in and around the Wakhan Corridor for well over a decade. Those who know the territory insist that Chinese security personnel have been seen frequently there since the late 2000s, sometimes with Afghan troops in tow. Then, around 2012, Beijing began to provide scholarships for study in China to the sons of influential local families. Later still, the Wakhjir Valley at the end of the Corridor became increasingly securitized, mostly to prevent Uyghurs from fleeing Xinjiang.
Beijing has strenuously denied reports that it has set up military sites in neighboring Gorno-Badakhshan, or that its army has conducted “any military operation” in the Wakhan, while making noises about Uyghur militants who fight for the Taliban. There is some agreement that such fighters are present in Afghanistan. Crossing directly from Afghanistan to China, however, is likely very difficult given the level of surveillance the Eastern end of the Wakhan is subject to.
The net around Afghanistan cast by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is becoming ever wider: A submission to the International Criminal Court claims that Tajikistan is one of a growing club of nations that is helping China extradite Uyghurs, while a security cooperation agreement signed in 2016 brought the two countries together along with Pakistan and Afghanistan. This quiet arrangement complements the other evolving fora between China and the Central Asian nations, as the CCP sought to boost the prestige and improve the coordination of the Belt and Road Initiative, for example, through a deal-oriented multinational meeting at the symbolic “Silk Road” city of Xi’an held in May.
Alongside security, Beijing’s other interest in the region is economic. Feeling the constraints of its position in the South China Sea, Beijing has been investing in Pakistan’s ports and in the maintenance of the Karakoram Highway, which links Xinjiang to the Indian Ocean. The construction of this astonishing road claimed over a thousand lives in the 1960s and 1970s, while a number of dramatic interventions have had to be made in response to damage since then. Involving barges, bridges, and the boring of massive tunnels, these repair operations are testimony to the incredibly tough topography of the greater region.
Nonetheless, the hard-won success of the Karakoram Highway and the closeness of China’s alliance with Pakistan may have fed some of the enthusiasm about a road over the Wakhjir pass into the Wakhan. This project was begun by the Afghan government in 2019. A new section leading up to the pass is under construction, but much of the route is no more than a gravel track cut into unstable ground. By stretching as far as the lower reaches of the Little Pamir, this road has already brought benefits to the isolated Kyrgyz and the Wakhi who trade with them.