China's Role in the Stabilization of Afghanistan

Greg Kleponis | U.S. Army War College | 2009-07-08

Noting that China how has now emerged as the second largest exporter to Afghanistan, after Pakistan, this paper asserts that "China’s ambivalent relationship toward Afghanistan has recently begun to change as the prospects of an Afghan stabilized security situation begin to emerge, and the Chinese view is that the momentum is on the side of the Coalition." The paper examines a variety of Chinese activities in Afghanistan, including those of the China Metallurgical Group, which seeks to develop iron-ore deposits at Hajigak in the central province of Bamiyan, west of Kabul.