China's approach towards the Taliban’srising power in Afghanistan with regard to the Silk Road Initiative

Because of its profound competition with the United States of America, China is one of the few countries in the world that has a positive view of the Taliban’s rising power in Afghanistan. It considers the Taliban's rise to power as a means for undermining the role and influence of the United States in Asia and a suitable ground for the implementation of the Silk Road Initiative which is part of China’s Soft Balance against the United States. It is important to note that through the Silk Road initiative, China is looking for large investments in the infrastructures of more than sixty-five countries in the world in order to secure its strategic interests in various fields including economic ones. Because of its being faced with regional and global isolation, the Taliban is apt to strongly welcome relations with the emerging China as a superpower. Based on this, the main question of the article is this: To what extent is Chine’s approach toward the Taliban's gaining power in Afghanistan influenced by its competition with the United States over the implementation of the Silk Road initiative? In response to the above question, it is hypothesized and argued that the Chinese government considers the Taliban’s rise to power as an opportunity to advance the Silk Road initiative and, as a result, a basis for expanding its role and influence in the Central Asian region against the United States’ role and presence. The research method used in this article is descriptive-analytic.