A copper mine contract handed over to China is turning into a war between China and the NATO in Afghanistan. Will China relinquish the hard earned contract to satisfy the NATO in its goals of further undermining the Muslim state?

The Western destabilization of Afghan-China relations is not obvious to the oblivious eye but for experts in the field, the Afghan war is a prolongation of the disruption of the relations that existed between Kabul and Beijing and these were very stong economic ties.

The Afghan war headed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) under the US Command has entered its 9th year as it started in 2001 right after the 911 attacks in the US. Until now, the US and NATO armies have failed to redress the situation in Afghanistan and they have also failed to eliminate what they call the Taliban threat to Afghan democracy. With the new US administration in place in Washington, the situation has not changed except to the fact that more troops are ordered in the territory but the aim is nearly unknown to the world.

Here we tell you a different story that will take you from one page in Afghan history to another. The China Metallurgical Group Corp, a state owned diversified metal producer lead a group that had beaten four rivals for the right to develop Afghanistans largest copper mine with a $2.87 billion offer. This was told by a company consultant. The contract was awarded in November 2008. The tender was opened apparently in June 2007.

Under China Metallurgical's plan, the Aynak mine in Afghanistan will produce 200,000 metric tons of refined copper a year, Eddie Hedayat Azizi, the company's consultant on the bid, said in a telephone interview from Kabul at that time. Construction on the mine, located southeast of the capital, may start in six months to a year, he said.

So far, there is no problem with Afghanistan awarding a major multi-million dollar contract to a Chinese firm, state owned on top of that. The Americans and the Western business forces were, however, not going to sit tight at the back and watch the Chinese reap the fruits of their invasion of Afghanistan.

A bit of history shows why this is a very important element in Afghanistan. A tripling in copper prices since 2004 fueled a five-way contest for rights to the deposit, overcoming concerns that a war between 41,000 NATO-led soldiers and a Taliban insurgency in the central Asian nation may impede construction of the metallurgical plant.

The Chinese offer had beaten bids by Hunter Dickinson Inc., Kazakhmys Plc, Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska's Strike Force unit.

``China Metallurgical is a very strong, very powerful company that doesn't need anyone else's technology or anyone's money,'' Azizi said. ``People are eager to get to work, to put down their rifles and pick up shovels.'' Mr Azizi meant that at last, some folks in Afhanistan were given a chance to work, to do something worthy for their country.

According to the contract, China Metallurgical, based in Beijing, will build a 400-megawatt coal-fired power station about 280 kilometers ( 174 miles ) north of the city to supply electricity to the plant, Azizi said. The area has sufficient coal reserves to fuel the plant for at least 50 years, Azizi said.

The active Chinese economic policy in Afghanistan has undeniably provoked great concern of the diplomatic and military leaders of the US and Great Britain. They are dissatisfied with China Metallurgical Group Corp victory in November last year when the company was handed the tender to develop Afghanistan's largest copper mine Aynak. CMGC proposed investments amounted to over 3 billion USD and a number of additional projects which could be of great help in the devastated Afghanistan. The Americans and the British do not seem to be happy that Afghanistan was going to be better off with the development of the plant.

Having strong military contingent in Afghanistan, the Anglo-Saxons were pretty sure about their success in tender bid but once defeated, they are collaborating in taking measures to cause trouble and prevent the realization of the Chinese plans and break down the arrangements between Beijing and Kabul.

The incredible is now happening in Afghanistan. The Allies and NATO are using their contacts with elements of the Taliban to destabilize the situation in the otherwise stable province of Logar. The NATO forces have allowed the quantity of Taliban elements to significantly increase in the region as well as number of undermining operations conducted by them. Chinese workers were kidnapped, killed and even fired upon to scare them. This had the effect of upsetting Beijing but the project is still on.

To make matters worst for the Chinese, the Americans pushed Logar authorities to forward new requirements to China in addition to previous ones made with regards to the project. For example, local authorities demand reconstruction of all nearby roads, construction of new hospital, employing of local personnel with the salary close to international standards. The aim is to employ Australian, American and British as well as Canadian hospital personnels and security officers. They must be paid high salaries indeed.

Not satisfied that these tactics did not really pay, the Americans decided to provoke locals to protest against the local authorities actively saying there were possible irregularities that could happen with water supply because of new copper facilities being built in the area. The protesters were made to voice out that the building of the plant by China could In turn lead to confrontation between local tribes. They also argued about the influx of Chinese workers to the region saying this was a form of deterioration of the life of the locals. The protestors failed to state that the US and NATO presence too was a major form of threat to their people though.

With such anti-chinese actions underway, the US and the UK being behind them, there will surely be the continuation of the deterioration of the situation with the sole aim of forcing China to abandon the project. It is being said that the protests, the Taliban attacks and the demands by the local authorities will continue and will become more acute when Beijing starts ground work in Logar.

Surely any delays and non-fulfilment of any of the provisions of the contract between China and the Afghans in Logar will be used by the US and the UK to undermine the China Metallurgical Group Corp in the country.

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The area has sufficient coal reserves to fuel the plant for at least 50 years,

Western business forces were, however, not going to sit tight at the back and watch the Chinese reap the fruits of their invasion of Afghanistan.

A bit of history shows why this is a very important element in Afghanistan. A tripling in copper prices since 2004 fueled a five-way contest for rights to the deposit, overcoming concerns that a war between 41,000 NATO-led soldiers and a Taliban insurgency in the central Asian nation may impede construction of the metallurgical plant.


The Chinese offer had beaten bids by Hunter Dickinson Inc., Kazakhmys Plc, Freeport- McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska's Strike Force unit.


``China Metallurgical is a very strong, very powerful company that doesn't need anyone else's technology or anyone's money,''
People are eager to get to work, to put down their rifles and pick up shovels.'' Mr Azizi meant that at last, some folks in Afhanistan were given a chance to work, to do something worthy for their country.


They are dissatisfied with China Metallurgical Group Corp victory in November last year when the company was handed the tender to develop Afghanistan's largest copper mine Aynak. CMGC proposed investments amounted to over 3 billion USD and a number of additional projects which could be of great help in the devastated Afghanistan.


The Allies and NATO are using their contacts with elements of the Taliban to destabilize the situation in the otherwise stable province of Logar.

Chinese workers were kidnapped, killed and even fired upon to scare them. This had the effect of upsetting Beijing but the project is still on.


It is being said that the protests, the Taliban attacks and the demands by the local authorities will continue and will become more acute when Beijing starts ground work in Logar.