However much they extol the virtues of cooperation, U.S. officials remain wary of China’s spreading influence in Asia. President Barack Obama issued the latest warning in his State of the Union speech Tuesday. In one area, however, the U.S. should be aiming to increase rather than diminish Beijing’s role: the conflict in Afghanistan.
With U.S. troops drawing down, new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has deliberately sought greater Chinese involvement in ending the war in his country. He made his first foreign trip last fall to Beijing, where he asked Chinese officials to help mediate talks with the Taliban. A delegation dispatched by the militant group reportedly showed up in the Chinese capital a month later.
On the surface at least, Ghani has kept India at arm’s length. While back-channel contacts continue, he has chosen not to visit New Delhi, and in October he suspended an outstanding request for helicopters and other military equipment India had been late in delivering.
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