China weighs in

China is everywhere. Whether it is a set of disputed reefs in the South China Sea, infrastructure and mining in the states of central Africa or the historic meeting, the first for 66 years, between the Chinese and Taiwanese leaders held on November 7 — the Chinese are there. And they have an interest, to say the least, in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Wherever in the world the Chinese are, their interests are about trade, not territory (the exceptions being disputed reefs and Taiwan) — and trade is best conducted in an atmosphere of peace not war. China has now weighed in to support the role of Pakistan in the currently dormant peace process within and around Afghanistan. There is much at stake, and not only for China. Peace, if it ever comes in Afghanistan, will be a game changer, and a possible key, if not to prosperity in the short term then to improved lives for many millions across the region generally.

The Chinese Special Envoy on Afghanistan, Deng Xijun, has been in Islamabad to make that very point. How much importance China attaches to the peace process may be determined by the fact that this is the envoy’s first port of call since his appointment. He will spend two days in Pakistan before moving on to Kabul. Chinese and Pakistani interests in respect of Afghanistan and peace are convergent. The success of the western arm of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is to a degree dependent on achieving peace in Afghanistan because the potential for disruption by the spillover of any conflict in that country to Pakistan and the western route would defeat the object of the exercise. China has already hosted a Taliban delegation in the early stages of negotiations and will have maintained back-channel contacts despite the hiatus. China will also be making its views clear on the matter of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, currently at a low point after a brief uptick in the latter part of 2014 and early 2015. The Chinese play the long game, are far seeing and have their eyes on the prize — business.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2015.

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