America invaded Afghanistan for human rights. China is working with the Afghan government because they want to build a pipeline to nowhere near their population centers and give more leverage to Xinjiang province. I am very smart.
America invaded Afghanistan for human rights. China is working with the Afghan government because they want to build a pipeline to nowhere near their population centers and give more leverage to Xinjiang province. I am very smart.
Even if they wanted to demonstrate a material foundation for china's involvement beyond the social stability of a volatile neighbor, they could have shown Afghanistan's mineral resources instead. This is just bonkers, they already have a pipeline through Pakistan to Iran and are in the process of building one though Tajikistan and Turkmenistan iirc.
are you talking about the Gwadar-Kashgar pipeline? because that's still under construction
Oh, good to know. Do you know how far off it is?
I can't tell, they appear to have broken ground in 2017 but it looks like a huge project with a budget more than $10 billion and a lot of logistical challenges like -30 C temps requiring heating of the pipeline
but I guess it's worth it to China not to rely on the Strait of Malacca
Yeah iirc something like 90% of China's oil comes thru there. Getting that pipeline done will be a massive geopolitical victory for china
:pete: