China-Afghanistan Relations: Change to the Path of Strategic Partnership

Abstract

The China and Afghanistan relations have been regulated based on Beijing's approach to regional and international developments in the past decades. The pulling out of American forces from Afghanistan and the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban led to a change in China's approach to Afghanistan from different points of view. America's withdrawal will alter the balance of power in Afghanistan and, as a result, its surrounding areas. China's approach to Afghanistan has always been based on security considerations, and now economic considerations have also been added to it. China's big economic plan in Pakistan and Central Asia is one of the most imperative security concerns of China, along with the concern of the link between the extremist groups in Afghanistan and the Uyghurs in the neighborhood of this country. The presence of the Taliban in power and the withdrawal of America from Afghanistan have led to a change in the relationship pattern from calculated indifference to strategic partnership. Components such as environmental uncertainty and strategic adaptation became the basis for the acceptance of this model by China. In the current research, we are investigating the reason for the change in China's attitude towards Afghanistan from calculated indifference to strategic partnership, and we want to provide a clear picture of these developments by expressing China's activism in Afghanistan.