China Report #4
Executive summary
The China BLUF Assessment from August 2021 provides insights and foresight analysis of China’s future role in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the tragic turmoil that followed the west troops’ withdrawal. The analysis is focused on providing clarification on what challenges and opportunities Beijing face in the area as well as in overviewing China’s evolving response, mostly based on security warranties provided by the Taliban. Apart from Afghanistan, a deep overview of the situation in the Indo-Pacific shows how the relationship with the US, Taiwan, and Japan remains tense.
Moreover, the analysis retraces China’s related main diplomatic activities for the month of August, such as the China-Arab States Expo and Beijing’s digital diplomacy in Africa. Special attention is also given to assessing President Xi renewed approach to the Maoist Slogan “Common Prosperity”, that has important implication for China’s foreign policy.
In conclusion, in the military and technological field, main events from this month include a ChinaRussia joint military exercise, concerning signal that the two countries are moving towards showcasing the growing cooperation between their militaries. China’s advancement in missile and artificial intelligence in underwater vehicles and the importance of war games in the military-civil fusion (MCF) is also reviewed in the end.