Monday, August 23, 2021

ANALYSIS: CHINA, AFGHANISTAN AND THE BELT & ROAD PLAN

Since taking power eight years ago, President Xi has massively increased China's military, economic, and political influence. With the Americans vacating Afghanistan and the Middle East, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now ready to take on its leading role as global dominant power. Xi stressed in his Davos speech on January 2021 that he has the "Mandate of Heaven" to rule the world. And all the while China continues to cover up the origin of the COVID-19 virus.



Aug. 20, 2021 Crossroads/Joshua Philipp: Live Q&A: China Holds Assault Drills Threatening Taiwan.

China is the Godfather of the Taliban.  Last week a meeting was held between Chinese foreign ministry officials and the American Under Secretary of State. It was a very heated meeting, both parties lecturing each other on various issues. It was all very reminiscent of the Alaska summit in March, the last time China humiliated the Biden administration on the world stage.

The next day the Chinese invited a Taliban delegate and made him sit in the same chair where the US Under Secretary of State sat the day before. In the picture released by Chinese Government media we see the same room, the same background, the exact same chair. It made the humiliation of America complete.

Pakistan is a Chinese vassal state. Every single branch of its armed forces survive on Chinese weapons, be it the navy, the army or the air force. If China orders Pakistan to deliver a particular weapon to the Taliban, Pakistan is in no position to refuse. They are also paid bonuses for express delivery. 

So Pakistan and the Taliban are assured rewards for the cooperation with China. Earlier China took over Hong Kong. Then Burma. And now Afghanistan. It all contributes to Xi's grand plan of the so called Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). BRI is an expansionist policy aimed at taking over traditional global trade routes, the South China Sea and Taiwan. 

Afghanistan is the pivot in the BRI expansion plan. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is very seriously pushing BRI. From the CCP's perspective, they are at war. It's a war for complete dominance, be it the South China Sea, Burma, Philippines or India. 

In Afghanistan the CCP wants to show that they have the power to defeat the USA. The CCP/China have kicked America out of Afghanistan; this is how the Chinese press is showing its local audience. It proves how weak Biden and the ruling Democrat Party really are. If the US cannot even fight the Taliban, how can they defeat a well trained Chinese People's Liberation Army?

China is a huge energy hungry nation. Huge means, really huge. China has made a deal for an oil and gas pipeline with Russia. Plus a 25 year deal for 400 billion dollar with Iran on the condition that Iran will get every type of weapon it wants. The biggest point here is this, the shrewd Chinese made this deal with Iran under very tough terms. Why? Because Iran has nowhere to go, crippled as it is with sanctions imposed by the West.

The secret and very important part of the deal is that China will buy oil from Iran at 1/3 of the price it pays to Russia. Russia charges 100 dollars  a barrel flat for the last one decade! The Russians are very smart too. But do you know why CCP is paying those billions to Russia? Because that keeps feeding the Russian bear and keeps their northern border safe. Imagine the benefits for an energy hungry nation! But even with so much cheap Iranian oil, the CCP will keep paying Russia and keep buying oil at that rate.

As China has no blue water navy, it's terrified of the two famous bottlenecks that can strangle the flow of oil at any time, the Straits of Hormuz and the Straits of Malacca. So China wants to build an overland pipeline through Afghanistan protected by the Taliban. China will make sure Pakistan keeps the fanatics in check. 

The Americans never thought of seizing the huge copper, iron and emerald deposits in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a mountain nation.  In the mountains, minerals get pushed up from the earth, so instead of digging down, you extract it from the sides, which is faster and easier.

In Washington DC the blame game has started. Biden and his administration have no clue who ordered the military out first. They are changing the goalposts every day.

Trump would have bombed the Taliban to dust if he didn't get all US nationals and every single piece of equipment out of Afghanistan before the military withdrawal. Trump likes to be unpredictable. Everyone fears an unpredictable person because you don't know that's coming next. 

But with Trump out of the way the CCP has studied the Afghan debacle  minutely and it has cast its eye on Taiwan. If China launches an attack on Taiwan, they now know how Biden and the Democrats will react. They will do nothing. They are clueless. Biden will not even call off his vacation. 

At least 10,000 Americans and over 20,000 allies are stranded in Afghanistan. Apart from that, the biggest loss are the Blackhawk helicopters. In the mountainous region of Afghanistan there are not many runways, so you need Blackhawk helicopters. 

The Chinese have been trying to steal Blackhawk technology from the US for decades. They need it for the Himalayas. Chinese helicopters cannot fly over 4,000-5,000 meters and even that is a stretch.  Blackhawks go upto 8,000 meters, even loaded.

What exactly happened in Afghanistan is still fluid, but the one fact emerging from the fog is that the elite, the generals, the leaders who had a pivotal role, all fled. What if China strings up the same scenario in Taiwan, if the leadership or part of it flees to USA. Then what? The whole nation will collapse like a deck of cards. The CCP wins without a shot fired! 

This is a scenario that may or may not happen. Afghans are thought to be brave warriors and Taiwan has not fought any wars lately. Afghanistan is made up of tribal people and their leaders are corrupt. They do not have the notion of a nation, but they accepted the leadership of the Americans, who had an air force. They were in fact proud of the Americans. But the Americans left overnight.


An analysis by Rajesh Chaudhary


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