Posted on 12/26/2017 12:08:32 PM PST by Hamiltonian
China and Pakistan will look at extending their $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday, part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road plan linking China with Asia, Europe and beyond.......
Speaking after the first trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wang said China hoped the economic corridor could benefit the whole region and act as an impetus for development.....
Wang said China fully supported peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban and would continue to provide “necessary facilitation”.
The Belt and Road infrastructure drive aims to build a modern-day “Silk Road” connecting China to economies in Southeast and Central Asia by land and the Middle East and Europe by sea.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
These might just be one of those 'interesting times' the old proverb/curse had in mind.
Face it. The Middle Kingdom is again dominant in Asia. Chinese commercial expansion will bring wealth and a new order to the violent lands of Pakistan and Afghanistan as the endemic Islamic culture crumbles unable to cope with the challenge of modernity. The order will be distinctively capitalist but will no doubt offend Western sensibilities and customs.Tough to admit but the Chinese will succeed in the next 50 years where the West has failed.
(# is a WAG, but prolly in the neighborhood ;-)
You’re very likely correct.
Not to mention convenient interior supply lines.
China’s ambitious Belt and Road project is designed to hard-wire countries to Chinese control.....and it’s working.
This 20 Trillion + mega development scheme was set into motion years ago
Watch as geopolitics falls into line
Maybe Halford Mackinder will be proven right
Taking a train from London to Beijing is on my bucket list
Taliban need not apply
The Highway Bandits will make a killing ,wait is this for sending goods out or for China to loot other countries
Throughout known history the peoples of the steppe have been the scourge of civilization, regularly banding together and raiding south -— until the Russians brought them under control in the 18th and 19th and 20th centuries. As long as somebody has them under control I don’t care who it is.
The next question would be where India and Russia fit into these calculations.
Why Greece is banking on China’s modern-day Silk Road to help its economic recovery
There is little question that India will feel that an iron crescent has descended and been firmly implanted on their northern border. They have neither the military or the commercial strength to prevent it. Suppose they will remain autonomous but will mold their nation to accommodate new cultural, economic and military realities. If the US is smart , it won’t try to intervene and fight the coming economic and cultural tides. Russia will have a similar challenge on their southern borders but will have natural resources to sell.
Unless control of opium production is found useful to Chinese interests.
History has examples where trouble can be generated in that region without direct intervention.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.