Kandahar recently opened its first foreign office in a Taliban-controlled area of ??Afghanistan, which is actually an embassy or consulate. This office is naturally China's office in Afghanistan. Although there are basically no Chinese in Afghanistan, the ability to accomplish this is a manifestation of regional political influence. Now everyone is optimistic that the Taliban can win the championship. Although the Taliban is also relatively violent, at least its actions to liberate women's rights and restore economic and order have been recognized by many Western governments, civil organizations and human rights fighters. Make good friends with the Taliban at this time, and when the Taliban takes control of the country, they may be able to obtain more benefits and bargaining chips.
Although many people are pessimistic about restoring peace and stability in Afghanistan, no one can completely predict what will happen in the future, and it is normal to plan in advance. If Afghanistan really returns to the status of a normal country, there will definitely be various business opportunities here. A more harmonious government relationship will definitely make it easier for foreign companies to enter this country that has been devastated by war and the people's livelihood is in decline, and make a lot of money in the recovery and reconstruction work.
Not to mention, Afghanistan itself is also a country rich in resources. It has the third largest copper mine and the fifth largest iron mine in the world, and contains a large amount of high-value minerals such as lithium ore and rare earth minerals. The northern region also produces a certain amount of Oil and gas resources.
In another aspect, the state-owned giants of China, which is short of resources, are flexing their muscles in Afghanistan, which is still in chaos. China Metallurgical Group invests in the exploration of local copper and coal resources, and plans to build railways for the transportation of these minerals.
Because Omar is a Red Alert spy, there is no problem for Chinese companies to enter Afghanistan at this time. The northern area is still inaccessible because it is the territory of government forces and the Northern Alliance, but the door to southern Afghanistan has been opened to Chinese companies that have entered the global circle resources in advance.
The current commercial negotiations between China and the Taliban are actually at an extremely rough level, and both parties are even at the official government level, not the corporate level. The Taliban side has no companies, but the Chinese side can officially be the owners of companies, so the form becomes a direct official dialogue.
Xu Yonghua, the director of the Chinese office in Taliban Afghanistan, does not know that the people he wants to negotiate with are actually his own people, and their so-called negotiations are just a formality. Xu Yonghua came with a mission, and the Taliban representative who negotiated with him also came with the mission of leader Omar to "revitalize the economy and introduce foreign investment," so they basically hit it off.
The Taliban representative in charge of the negotiations was Dimish, who was recently appointed as Minister of Economy by Omar. This Minister of Economy in his fifties was a small warlord not long ago, but what distinguishes him from other warlords is that he does not like to wear clothes. The man in Islamic robes studied business administration in the UK when he was young, and he traveled to many countries. Omar conducted some tests on him and believed that Dimish was not very qualified as a warlord, but he had certain business and economic capabilities, so he appointed him as the more important economic minister in the Taliban's interim cabinet.
Dimish has always had an attitude of admiration for Omar. Perhaps at first he, like many others, was dissatisfied with Omar, but as he stayed in Kandahar for a longer time, the strange atmosphere finally surrounded him, and he changed subtly. he. Now, like many people in Kandahar, he speaks about Allah and shuts up about Said (Sayed means leader) Omar.
The fanatical religious atmosphere makes Dimish determined to do good things for the leader. If he fails to fulfill the leader's entrustment, then he will become a sinner, which also makes Dimish very scared.
Therefore, when Xu Yonghua met Dimish and other Taliban officials, he found that they seemed extremely nervous and had a sacred and righteous look on their faces. This made Xu Yonghua quite confused and thought to himself: "It's bad, these people may It's not easy to deal with. I'm not a serious economic official, so I might suffer." This time, the director of the office was sweating profusely, as if he was facing an enemy.
In this atmosphere, commercial negotiations between the two sides began.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xu Yonghua took out the information he had prepared and said: "Dear gentlemen, our geologists all believe that there are a lot of minerals in the land of Afghanistan. Although it seems to be a barren land with little rain and drought, There is a lack of water sources and vegetation, but the industrial and mining resources here are eye-catching." He said this leisurely. In fact, in his information, where and what minerals are found in Afghanistan are clearly marked on the map. Once you take it out, others will definitely ask you how you obtained such detailed information. The result must be that China secretly sent people to explore Afghanistan. This behavior is not usually regarded as a friendly behavior, but is intelligence and reconnaissance work.
The mineral distribution data in Afghanistan that China has is naturally obtained by U6 (U.S. Geological Survey) after the US military occupied Afghanistan in another dimension, and is stored in the database of the base. So basically at this level, Chinese companies don¡¯t have to spend a penny.??By detecting the distribution of resources, you can find the mining area, then conduct rough exploration, and then start the mining work.
Dimish nodded and said: "Our country's economy is in dire straits and people's livelihood is in decline. If we can develop the mining industry and other related industries, it will be very meaningful for restoring our country's economy and increasing our fiscal revenue."
Xu Yonghua breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Taliban had no objection to China's exploitation of their resources, so he continued: "We initially hope to make certain investments in southern Afghanistan, mainly in the field of mineral extraction. We also hope to obtain The local government provides support and assistance with employment and other policies.¡±
Dimish replied: "These are all easy to say. As long as Chinese companies are willing to come, we welcome a hundred Chinese companies. However, our country lacks all necessary infrastructure, even road conditions, industrial electricity, running water, etc." There is also a lack of everything"
Xu Yonghua hurriedly said: "There is no problem with these. We have an experienced engineering team in the country, and it is not a problem to build this kind of infrastructure. If we can get the consent of the Taliban government, we can also take over the construction of water, electricity and municipal infrastructure in cities such as Kandahar." Facilities are convenient for locals¡¯ lives. ¡±
Dimish is happy that there are more and more residents in Kandahar, but the lack and backwardness of infrastructure have seriously restricted the further development of Kandahar, especially the lack of water and electricity. Many residents have to build their slums in relatively suburban areas. Then he walked several kilometers to fetch water from wells. Even leader Omar claimed to set an example in saving water in public speeches. Electricity is even more of a problem. At night, only a few lights powered by diesel generators can be seen in Kandahar. Afghanistan without electricity is like a society from two hundred years ago, not a modern society.
In fact, Qi Yiming originally planned to let the power plant at the base solve this electricity problem for Omar. Just like he did in China, a large number of red-alert power plants provided a large amount of cheap electricity for residents' daily life and industrial and agricultural electricity. But if this is done, outsiders will definitely doubt how Kandahar, which is originally backward and lacks an industrial foundation, can supply a large amount of electricity to the whole city, so they can only give up.
"However, Ambassador Xu, our government has restrictions on important infrastructure construction. Foreign investment cannot exceed 50%. Moreover, our government must have considerable control over companies such as water conservancy companies, power companies, and transportation companies. degree of decision-making power.¡±
Xu Yonghua is not surprised at all by such conditions. Being able to hold 49% of the shares is already a good thing. Although the investment in infrastructure construction is relatively large and the cost recovery time is relatively long, it is a relative problem. Being able to enter these The field itself has a relatively large influence on this country. It can be said that even if Xu Yonghua's other matters have not been negotiated, this incident alone can already be commended.
"We accept your country's conditions and legal supervision, and hope to contribute to the local people. Well, our country initially plans to invest in a gold mine and a copper mine in southern Afghanistan. If progress goes well, we will further expand the scale of investment. In addition, considering your country¡¯s transportation problem, our country hopes to invest in the construction of the China-Pakistan Railway from Quetta, Pakistan to Kandahar. If Kabul is also liberated by you in the future, we may be able to build another line from Peshawar to Kabul. line."
Dimish did not expect that such a good thing would happen. A railway would bring huge changes to the Afghan economy. If the line between Pakistan and China can be connected, and at least normal trade can be carried out, then Afghanistan will not be as difficult as it is now. Goods from the outside can be transported in via this railway, and the ores and goat hair fabrics produced in Afghanistan can be exported.
The China-Pakistan Railway is an important part of Qi Yiming's strategy of going west. It is difficult to build a section of high mountains from Kashmir into China. Qi Yiming mainly recruited a capable construction team and even deployed an underground mining truck to dig the mountain for them. Make roads. The road from Gwadar into Pakistan is not particularly difficult to repair, and entering Afghanistan is not a problem.
In Xu Yonghua¡¯s view, although this kind of support for the Taliban may not seem like much, it is actually much more powerful than giving millions of AK4Ks. He was still unsure about entering the war-torn Afghanistan so early, but he had to complete the instructions given by his superiors. From his strategic vision, it can be seen that the construction of the China-Pakistan railway to Afghanistan will basically ensure that Afghanistan will be radiated by China's economic circle economically, and the impact on politics and diplomacy is self-evident.
There are many uncertain factors, but if it is really successful, he will be successful.