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View Full Version : Chinese troops appear to be operating in Afghanistan, and the Pentagon is OK with it



Peter1469
03-09-2017, 11:32 AM
Chinese troops appear to be operating in Afghanistan, and the Pentagon is OK with it (http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/chinese-troops-afghanistan)
Well this makes sense. China actually shares a border with Afghanistan, albeit a short one. Plus there is over a trillion worth of rare earth minerals in those hills. China will wait for the US and NATO to leave. I suspect that they won't have the same problems we have pacifying the locals.


There is mounting evidence that Chinese ground troops are operating inside Afghanistan, conducting joint counter-terror patrols with Afghan forces along a 50-mile stretch of their shared border and fueling speculation that Beijing is preparing to play a significantly greater role in the country's security once the U.S. and NATO leave.


The full scope of China's involvement remains unclear, and the Pentagon is unwilling to discuss it. “We know that they are there, that they are present,” a Pentagon spokesman said. Yet beyond a subtle acknowledgement, U.S. military officials in Washington and in Kabul would not respond to several detailed questions submitted by Military Times.


This dynamic stands in stark contrast to the two sides' feisty rhetoric over their ongoing dispute in the South China Sea, and to Washington's vocal condemnation of Russian and Iranian activity in Afghanistan. One explanation may be that this quiet arrangement is mutually beneficial.