This is a concern.
I think there needs to be reassurances from China it will contribute to the BENEVOLENT development of Afghanistan if it is going to be a 'trade partner.'
While Afghanistan's people need an economy and some of this is good news to them, I sincerely hope China will be employing local people to conduct the operation. That will require the Chinese to be educating the Afghans in technical information to conduct the mining. China's mining techniques have not necessarily proven the safest and the country of Afghanistan frequently is open to earthquakes. There is much more to mining this copper than meets the eye.
China has been involved with Pakistan as well, selling Musharraf weapons. That creates tension with India. China has to take a hard look at the issues with stability to the region and address these trade relationships in a way that will benefit the 'region' as well as Chinese companies.
The possible corruption of a 'payoff' to secure the mining rights is an issue. If indeed Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim Adel is now a wealthy man, he needs to be building schools and hospitals and adding to the benevolence of the Afghan economy and not his own offshore bank account.This is tough, because, when there are 'divided' loyalities in a country among the government when these ministers act as warlords, all kinds of trouble can contribute to local dynamics that act against the efforts of an American general.
This is case in point. Here a NATO British soldier was on foot patrol and shot by small arms fire. Why? What did he stumble into he wasn't suppose to?
How can NATO proceed when there are divided loyalities among the inner circle of the Karzai government? How can President Karzai lead a country to be united to stop the violence of the Taliban when in fact his own advisors might seek to align themselves with Taliban if their secrets are too dangerous to have revealed and how does NATO know that if the going gets tough for someone like Mohammad Ibrahim Adel and China has an investment in the copper that China won't be compelled to arm the Taliban if asked to do so.
I mean China compromised itself if it paid a 'ransom' for the rights to the copper mine. That is what a bribe is. It is a ransom to the rights being bargained for. I would hope China is smarter than this. China should seek to compel 'good business dealings' and stop any covert bargaining to make these trade relations legitimate. They aren't legitimate if there were bribes paid. The relationship China has with Afghanistan can fall under scrutiny if all the transactions are not open and honest. China is compromising the security of its own investment by dealing outside the understanding of benevolent consent. There should not be anything covert in a war zone.
There are a lot of questions here and it would be beneficial to ALL the parties involved to 'clear the air' and set up a trusting relationship that benefits the people of Afghanistan while disarming the Taliban and stopping their violence.
I don't see that the USA or any NATO country has to be the ONLY trade partners Afghanistan has, but, in the same methodolgy, those other trade partners have to agree to benevolent terms to their participation. It is the soldiers of NATO and the USA that have more on the line here than simply 'trade.' I apologize if that sounds as though I am placing trade in an insignificant light compared to the struggle to secure Afghansitan from the violence of the Taliban, but, the life and blood of the soldiers are a commodity that doesn't belong as part of any trade agreement.
China has to understand that while it is admirable to begin benevolent relationships with Afghanistan, there is a war going on in a region of the world where men sought to attack the USA through its civilian population. China cannot engage in any adverse actions to the USA and NATO operations in Afghanistan.This could be a very interesting opportunity for all the countries involved. Recently Russia decided to sell NATO helicopters. Hard to believe NATO had to go to that extent, but, on the other hand it is an indication that Russia is more or less a full partner to end the violence in Afghanistan and secure the region.
Basically, every country involved with Afghanistan has to be working toward the same goal. If that could be accomplished we will see a secure Pakistan and Afghanistan. The region will actually provide some kind of decent quality of life to its people. A lot is going on with Afghanistan and the corruption has to end. But, it has to end with the efforts of all involved, not just NATO and the USA as a cheerleading section.
Russian helicopters for NATO's war in Afghanistan (click here)
01:3704/11/2009
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - Russia is ready to provide NATO with helicopters for its war in Afghanistan - on commercial terms.
Dmitry Shugayev, general director of the state-owned corporation Russian Technology, made this announcement last week at a meeting in Brussels with officials in charge of logistics for NATO forces.
During its operations in Afghanistan, the alliance has faced an acute shortage of helicopters. In Afghanistan's extremely harsh conditions, helicopters often break down and need replacements even in non-combat situations. And the need for military hardware grows with continued increases in troops....
Last message of TA soldier shot in Afghanistan: 'Still waiting for new body armour' (click here)
Two weeks after being deployed Rifleman Andrew Fentiman was shot dead while on foot patrol in Helmand province
Richard Norton-Taylor
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 November 2009 21.33 GMT
He had put his career as a sales manager at a software firm on hold to pursue his ambition of becoming an army officer.
In a blog from the frontline, the Territorial Army soldier Andrew Fentiman, 23, described his Afghan base as calm and was cheered by the cheap cigarettes but worried troops were still waiting for the body armour and helmets they had been promised. Two weeks after being deployed Rifleman Fentiman, who was serving with the 7th Battalion The Rifles, was shot dead while on foot patrol near Sangin in Helmand province on Sunday....
China Metallurgical Group Corporation (click here)
Published online 28 November 2007
Nature 450, 599 (2007)
News in Brief
China secures contract for Afghan copper mine (click here)
Afghanistan last week announced that a Chinese firm has won the bid for the first post-Taliban natural-resource development project: the US$30-billion Aynak copper deposit outside Kabul (see Nature 449 , 968–971 ; 2007).
The state-owned China Metallurgical Group will now negotiate the final terms of the deal, in which China is pledging $2.9 billion to Afghanistan to create a mine in five years that will tap the estimated 13 million tonnes of ore.
China's operation of Aynak will be closely watched by scientists, aid agencies and economists because of environmental and socio-economic concerns raised over mining projects elsewhere.
