Why is Wakhan not becoming a transit route between Afghanistan and China?
Author: Abdul Naser Noorzad, security and geopolitics researcher, especially for Sangar
China is wary of the Wakhan route that connects Afghanistan with this country. What could be the main reason for these concerns? Here are some possibilities:
- China's main concern regarding Afghanistan is the growing security threats, which has become the main driver of China's sensitivity to the current situation in this country. The Uyghurs and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement as a whole are the biggest security threat against China in the region;
- If this path is opened, China's front line and defense wall against its enemies will break. Because China considers the Wakhjir crossing, which is located between the Afghan militia and the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, as the frontline of the fight against terrorism? Under no circumstances will this country allow a way for Uyghur militias to infiltrate into China's territory;
- Pakistan plays a major role in China's reluctance for some political, economic and security reasons. If it happens that Afghanistan is directly connected to China, Pakistan will have an independent and independent Taliban in terms of economic and security as well as political issues. At the same time, this will cause Pakistan to lose economic markets and sales of its products in Afghanistan;
- China is very cautious in its strategic choices, such as prioritizing economic, political and security issues. Therefore, if the Wakhan route is opened, its security risks may be far greater than its economic benefits. This is something that China does not want;
- China does not want to have a weak point with the Uighur militias by opening the Wakhan road. Because in such a case, trade convoys from China will become the main source of blackmail and increasing the political demands of the Uyghurs in Beijing;
- Based on the US and UK advices, Pakistan is not allowed to let China to have a land route to Afghanistan’s resources, geography and military strategic position. This experience is also true for the invasion of the former Soviet Union in 1979, when they first built the Salang crossing and later launched a military invasion in Afghanistan from its path.
- Pakistan is trying to prevent China from getting closer to the Taliban and the only way to ensure relations and trade is through Islamabad. This work makes the Taliban not have more power to act than such a strategic and vital choice;
- The Taliban are also cautious with China. Any change in behavior towards China will cause other terrorist groups allied with the Taliban in Afghanistan, especially the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, to show a serious reaction to this development, which will be like an explosion within the Taliban.
- China will wait for the right opportunity to open this path until the Taliban take decisive action against the Uyghurs in Afghanistan. Still, the Taliban have not been able to behave and perform satisfactorily in relation to their commitments to the Uyghurs in Afghanistan;
- About the fact that the main location of foreign terrorist forces will be in the northeast of Afghanistan, and especially the issue of ISIS-K, which is a strategic threat to the security of the region and China, and according to reports, the majority of the Uyghur forces are very willing to join. to ISIS. Opening a land route to China would be much more risky than its economic benefits.
China is facing various threats in the region. Of the thirteen neighbors with China, this country has security and political problems with the majority. Although China is very important for economic development, financial provisions and providing income funds, and the majority of China's presence in different regions of the world is justified by the Chinese in the shadow of this equation, but the security threats, the possibilities of de-security are against it. The security of this country remains the priority of China's security policies.
Today, China has to take security measures in order to maintain its security, using economic, financial tactics and political solutions. Afghanistan, considering the volume of security threats, the presence of foreign terrorist groups and its sensitive position for China, It cannot be free of such calculations.
