The conflict in Afghanistan is becoming more complex by the day, spreading beyond its borders into south Asia. There are four main parties: the US, Pakistan, Afghanistan itself and the Afghan Taliban. Others, previously remotely involved, are increasingly drawn in-the most prominent being China. China's growth rate of close to 10 per cent per annum makes it a global economic hub with which to reckon, second only to the US. This may not however be socially sustainable as it perpetuates inequality in income, heavily concentrated in China's southern coastal area. Moreover, the country's ethnic cohesion is uncertain: apart from minority tensions, the Han majority is itself fractured among ethno-linguistic communities which have experienced sustained segregation.
Direct Chinese investments in Afghanistan totalled US$200 million in 2011, but the estimated value of Chinese-backed projects is higher. For example, a copper mine project in Aynak backed by state-owned Metallurgical Company of China and Jiangxi Copper Corporation is worth nearly US$3.5 billion. China National Petroleum Corporation also has an energy project in northern Afghanistan. With that economic toehold, there have been calls for Beijing to deepen its security engagement with Afghanistan to prevent extremists in restive Xinjiang from going to Afghanistan to receive training from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. China has blamed the movement for a car crash attack that killed five in Tiananmen Square on October 28.
