China and the Taliban are longtime friends, working together against the United States

China, the world’s most odious abuser of human rights has become very cozy with the tiny – but murderous – Taliban regime that controls Afghanistan.

One word describes why the giant and the dwarf are buddies.

Lithium.

Used in batteries for tools and electric cars, the Taliban control Afghanistan’s one trillion dollars of  lithium reserves.

Nick Crawford, a development economics researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), said that Afghanistan is also rich in rare earth minerals, coal, iron ore, talc, uranium, gold, precious stones, oil, gas and copper.

China uses 52% of the world’s annual copper production, and the Taliban has long controlled much of the mining in Afghanistan, earning some $300 million a year for its terrorist efforts.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-authorized government has been so corrupt that even small contracts are impossible to enforce, leaving most of the country’s mineral wealth in the ground.

To its shame, Afghanistan is also the world’s largest producer of opium with an estimated annual export value of $1.5-$3 billion, and supplies the vast majority of illicit heroin sales worldwide.The Taliban has controlled this trade for decades, earning hundreds of millions by taxing growers, labs and shippers.

Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, cynically told nine visiting Taliban representatives on July 28 that Beijing expected it to “play an important role in the process of peaceful reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan.” The visitors included the Taliban’s co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar,

Wang urged the Taliban to crack down on the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, calling it a “direct threat to China’s national security.”

Taliban spokesman Mohammed Naeem said the meeting was an invitation from Chinese authorities, reporting that “politics, economy and issues related to the security of both countries and the current situation of Afghanistan and the peace process were discussed in the meetings.”

The Taliban delegation assured China that they will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against China,” Naeem said.

China also reiterated its commitment of continuation of their assistance with Afghans, and said they will not interfere in Afghanistan’s issues but will help to solve the problems and restoration of peace in the country, he added.

China’s ties with the Taliban government in Kabul will now allow expansion of its Belt and Road Initiative into Afghanistan and through the Central Asian republics.

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If we follow the money Beijing was irate in December, when Afghan government officials terminated oil and gas contracts with China, seeking to renegotiate the terms of a massive mining concession.

This action followed the arrest in Kabul on Dec. 10 of an alleged Chinese espionage ring – operating in Kabul – to hunt down Uighur Muslims with the help of the Haqqani network, a terrorist outfit linked to the Taliban.

The U.S. puppet Afghan government then tried to use the spying incident as leverage against Beijing, one official said, especially to gain mining concessions. China refused this coercion and just waited until their friends, the Taliban, were in power this week.