China has not taken steps that would make it a real contributor to Afghanistan’s stabilization, a top US State Department official said on Thursday.
“I see opportunities for the United States and China to be important partners in reinforcing the need for a negotiated political settlement you see ambassador Khalilzad regularly consulting with his Chinese counterpart among other regional actors,” Alice Wells, top US diplomat for South Asia, said speaking at the Wilson Center, a Washington DC –based think tank.
“But I haven’t seen China take the steps that would make it a real contributor to Afghanistan’s stabilization,” she said.
According to the official, China has not been a real player in Afghanistan development. “China is not a provider of any significant grant assistance it has invested or it has laid claim to be a significant copper mine but has never developed the copper mine.”
She said that most of the regional connectivity initiatives have come from the neighbouring Central Asian states, including Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, who are developing rail lines, electricity lines and cross-border trade.
