While nations like Japan pour money into development aid, Beijing has largely stayed on the sidelines.
The drawdown of International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan after 2014 means the burden of maintaining and governing a modern state will fall on Kabul, complete with all the associated economic and political challenges. Never mind there are serious doubts the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) can meet the expected security challenges. Importantly, Kabul does not have the necessary funds to do all this. If there is any hope for sustained stability post-2014, Afghanistan is going to require foreign assistance.
Japan recently hosted the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan where the focus was on securing $16 billion from international donors to ensure Afghanistan’s sustainable development for the remainder of the transition process and beyond. This was Japan’s second time hosting an international conference on Afghanistan assistance. It also remains the second largest donor to Afghanistan, after the United States.
Given that many think Japan is a declining power, it is difficult not to ask why Japan is so involved in Afghanistan.
Come to think of it, given all the talk about China’s rise, why has there not been a Beijing Conference?
The answer is leadership.
There is plenty of empirical chum to feed the Japan-is-a-declining-power thesis. Its economy grew at tepid rates over the past twenty years, allowing China to surpass it as the world’s second largest a few years back. Add to this a ballooning debt-to-GDP ratio (that ranks second globally) and a rapidly aging and shrinking population that places enormous stress on Japan’s social security system and tax base. The March 2011 disasters, which by some estimates cost of over $300 billion, pressured an already strained economy. With a political establishment unable to make the tough decisions to avoid economic ruin, it is hard not to believe Japan’s best days are behind it.
Yet, Tokyo remains deeply engaged in Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development. It has hosted two international donor conferences to raise money for Afghanistan’s future. More importantly, since 2001, Japan has pledged billions in unilateral assistance directed toward governance, security, and reconstruction of which $4.051 billion has already provided. Japan’s aid has gone to support the training of the National Police; demobilizing former soldiers; reintegrating insurgents into society; providing education and medicine; and improving infrastructure, agriculture, and other basic needs.
Although Afghanistan’s instability arguably never has or will affect Japan’s security, it remains committed to Afghanistan’s future. Tokyo’s engagement is motivated by its desire to help Afghanistan overcome decades of suffering and assist in its reconstruction so as to prevent it from becoming a hotbed of terrorism. Tokyo chose to be involved, not out of fear or the promise of lucrative contracts, but out of the recognition that it needs to shoulder responsibility as a member of the international community.
Contrast this with China. China’s double-digit growth has fueled the country’s rapid development, military modernization, and programs that symbolize its re-entry onto the world stage, such as the Beijing Olympics. Yet, while economic growth promotes Beijing’s ambitious agenda, it has not translated into large sums of assistance to multilateral organizations or developing countries. Instead, China appears mercantilist, focusing on acquiring wealth and securing resources. Nowhere is this more apparent than Afghanistan. China’s primary form of assistance has been investment in energy and mineral resources. Symbolic of such investment is the deal to develop the Aynak cooper mine.
Compare this with Chinese assistance to Afghanistan’s development. Although it supports the anti-terrorist activities of ISAF and ANSF, it has not provided any direct military assistance nor contributed to the $4.1 billion fund established at the Chicago NATO summit to sustain the ANSF after 2014. Nor has Beijing provided any significant economic assistance. Between 2002 and 2011, Beijing contributed around $230 million to Afghanistan’s reconstruction. Last month, Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a further “selfless” $23 million for 2012. This is pocket change for a nearly $6 trillion economy that is rising to be the world’s next big power.
In some ways, China’s lack of engagement is understandable. After all, it has a record of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. It also has no record of deploying its military abroad to support the stability of another country. Yet, Afghanistan’s fate has a direct impact on China, which is why its halfhearted engagement is actually more surprising than understandable.
After ISAF leaves, there is a possibility Afghanistan could fall into a civil war. If the situation in Afghanistan worsens, China will become a victim. China’s main interest in Central Asia is regional security because it seeks to prevent the destabilization of Xinjiang Province, its largely Muslim region where Uighur separatists actively work to cede from China. As long as the Taliban operates in Afghanistan, there is possibility that they will provide a sanctuary for Xinjiang separatists, or worse, overt support. At the same time, heavy Chinese investments into Afghanistan mean that Beijing has a stake in ensuring stability because instability will pose significant risks to these investments. Together, there is no doubt that Beijing has a direct interest in a stable and prosperous Afghanistan.
It is well understood that without international help, there is little hope for a secure and stable Afghanistan. To avoid collapse, the international community has assumed a large role in promoting Afghanistan’s development and assisting the funding and training of ANSF. Although Japan faces minimal threats from the situation in Afghanistan, it is one of Afghanistan’s strongest supporters. As a neighbor with a direct interest in the security situation, China can no longer remain a free-riding observer to Afghanistan’s future. China has a lot to learn from Japan. Japan’s involvement in Afghanistan speaks to its willingness to lead in the international arena. What is more, it demonstrates what rich states can do for poorer ones, even when not directly threatened.
China is already a great power in many ways, but until it shifts its focus from “what’s in it for me,” to “what’s in it for them,” it will remain a country that few others will want to follow.
Jeffrey W. Hornung is an Associate Professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, HI and an Adjunct Fellow with the Office of the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. The views expressed in this article are solely his.
Photo Credit: People's Republic of China Foreign Ministry
Reddit
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
Technorati
Yahoo
Google
Plurk
Iswardi
I think it is an exaggeration to say that the Afghan Taliban would provide sanctuary for the Uyhgur secessionists. This is a very far-fetched idea. The conflict in Xinjiang largely revolves around racial and cultural identity and is not really a religious conflict. The Uyghurs feel that their identity has been marginalised and repressed by the Han Chinese and therefore, wish to form their own country. The Xinjiang issue has very little link with Islamic radicalism and Bejing intends to keep it that way. Besides, the Turkic Uyghurs are a largely secular people who identify more with Kemalist Turkey than Islamist Arabia, Iran or Afghanistan especially given the secular nature of communist rule in China.
For Beijing to contribute to the Afghan effort militarily or even to deploy troops there would be to open Pandora's box. It risks turning the Xinjiang conflict into a religious one and invite Muslim radicals into Xinjiang and worsen China's grip of the situation there. American involvement in Afghanistan also helps to divert American attention and resources away from China which the Chinese (and the Russians as well) are all too happy about while they slowly become more assertive in their own regions as America becomes too overly focused with un-winnable wars with radical Islam
The small Chinese financial aid to Afghanistan (just like Russia allowing the use of its airbase for American planes) is only a tactic which is part of a grand strategy to prolong America's involvement in Afghanistan to divert away America's attention and resources by giving America the false hope that Russia and China is on its side in Afghanistan and that Afghanistan can be fixed. They don't wish to be heavily involved because they risk bringing or expanding Islamic radicalism in their own backyard.
Besides, China knows that geography simply acts against China-Afghan trade if there were to be any. The rough and mountainous terrain of the Hindu Kush in eastern Afghanistan and the land-locked nature of that country simply does not allow large-scale trade to develop between both countries. Any large highway or rail projects between Afghanistan and China would be immensely expensive and even unprofitable if the Chinese wish to invest in them and this is worsened further given the fragile and unstable nature of Afghan politics, Afghanistan is a very risky investment choice for the Chinese and I'm sure Beijing is aware of it and would rather seek more stable and profitable trade partners elsewhere.