🇨🇳❌🇦🇫 China has quietly downgraded its relationship with the Taliban government

Sources inside the Chinese Communist Party told French outlet, Intelligence Online, that the CCP has downgraded the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to an "ordinary trading partner" but hasn't made public this decision yet.

This choice comes in response to long-standing grievances held by Beijing against Kabul. Chief among these is Kabul's refusal to hand over Uyghur refugees in Afghanistan. The CCP was also deeply irritated by the Taliban regime's decision in recent years to cut ties with several Chinese investors, whose performance was deemed below expectations in relation to their contractual commitments. For example, in June 2025, Kabul terminated the 25-year contract signed with Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas (CAPEIC). This $540m contract focused on oil extraction in the Amu Darya basin in the north of the country.

Meanwhile, while Russia became the first country to officially recognise the Taliban regime in July 2025, sources at Intelligence Online have confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been considering going back on that recognition, at the request of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, in order to heighten pressure on Kabul. Putin and Xi now both share the view that the Taliban serve solely their own interests and that nothing can compel them to act against their will.

In recent months, the CCP and the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS, or Guoanbu) have authorised several attempts at tripartite dialogue with Kabul and Islamabad, involving academics, military personnel and civil servants, and including online meetings in cases where face-to-face meetings were impractical.

The CCP also brought together the Pakistani and Afghan delegations in Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang from 1 to 7 April, under the leadership of Liu Jinsong, then director general for the department of Asian affairs at the foreign ministry, and the special envoy for Afghan affairs, Yue Xiaoyong.

But according to several Afghan and Pakistani sources, China does not have a reputation in the region as a good mediator. The country's calls for harmonious coexistence and mutual understanding are not backed by the kind of economic incentives required to justify significant efforts. Meanwhile, as recently as March, Foreign Minister Wang Yi was still referring to Afghans and Pakistanis as inseparable brothers, a narrative that is beginning to be seen as counterproductive in the region.

The case of the Wakhan Corridor, a strip of land in the far north-east of Afghanistan, has been pivotal in fuelling this impasse between them. For the CCP, this road leading to Xinjiang has never been merely an infrastructure project, but a means of securing concessions on security matters.

By February 2025, the Chinese government was already making its investment conditional on three requirements, namely new mining rights, the protection of its nationals by its own forces, and the repatriation of the Uyghurs. The Taliban refused to concede on any of these points and merely provided information on the number of Uyghurs present in the country.

In the absence of a deal, Kabul has chosen to continue alone with the project. On 4 October, the regime inaugurated a 121-kilometre road between Sarhad-e Broghil and the Wakhjir Pass, financed from its own funds to the tune of €5.5m. On the Chinese side, no development has followed. In other words, the CCP is refusing to open the trade route until its security conditions are met, and thus the road effectively ends at the border.

Pakistan is profiting from the souring of relations between Beijing and Kabul and is now discreetly urging the Chinese to establish contact with the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) of former Afghan defense minister and Chief of Staff, Yasin Zia. The AFF is known to operate in Badakhshan Province bordering China.

🔗 https://www.intelligenceonline.com/asia-pacific/2026/11/05/beijing-discreetly-downgrades-kabul-to-status-of-trading-partner,110914244-art

🇸🇩⚔️🇸🇩 Sudan Civil War: [5/11/2026]: Situation on Kordofan front: Today, the SAF launched a new operation to the south and west of El Obeid with the aim of reaching Nahud town and lifting the siege (once again) on Dilling.

- In the east, government troops recaptured Mansuka, Abu Qud and Umm Samima.

- In the south, the SAF recaptured Kazgil and Hamadi (which was recaptured by the RSF following a counter-attack).

🔗 SuriyakMaps

🇸🇸🇸🇩⚔️🇸🇩 Sudan Civil War: [5/11/2026]:

Situation on Blue Nile front: Two weeks after the government recaptured the area, the SPLM/RSF launched a new offensive towards the Rosseires area, managing to retake the town of Al Bukuri once again.

🔗 SuriyakMaps

🇸🇾🇸🇦🇾🇪⚡️ — Syria has sent military advisers and trainers to Saudi Arabia amidst KSA's war with Ansarallah, two Syrian military sources and a senior U.S. official. A senior U.S. official says the Syrian teams arrived to train both Saudi forces and Yemeni PLC forces operating inside KSA.

A senior Syrian diplomat and a Saudi official denied the presence of Syrian units was related to Ansarallah, saying the Syrians were there to be trained by KSA.

🇺🇸 Democrats are preparing investigations into major U.S. companies, with Apple, Meta and businesses linked to Elon Musk among the early targets, following the party’s victories in both chambers of Congress, according to the Washington Post

House Democrats are examining Trump’s use of Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot to help plan the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The Washington Post says that Apple could face scrutiny over its hosting of tracking apps used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while Meta is being targeted over NDAs imposed on local governments during data centre development

Corporate executives and lawyers are preparing for congressional investigations, with law firms holding emergency meetings and offering advice to companies with close ties to the Trump administration.

🔗 Faytuks News Network

🇺🇸🇨🇳 US warns China it must ‘immediately’ meet terms of Busan trade deal

Washington says Beijing is not fulfilling commitments to increase supply of rare earths and other critical products

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and US trade representative Jamieson Greer delivered the message in a call on Friday morning with He Lifeng, the Chinese vice-premier in charge of trade negotiations with Washington.

“Secretary Bessent emphasised the importance of China fully and immediately implementing its commitments made in Busan and raised concerns about recent Chinese actions,” Treasury said in a readout obtained by the FT. “He underscored that continued progress depends on concrete results and that the US will closely assess China’s implementation of the arrangement,” it added. The Busan ceasefire, which was agreed in the South Korean port city in October 2025, expires on January 10

When Xi visited Washington in September, the two sides extended the original deadline by two months until January 2027 after negotiators failed to resolve differences between the countries. One US official said Bessent and Greer made clear that Trump viewed the situation as a “priority” and that China had to live up to its Busan pledges. The warning comes two weeks before Trump and Xi are expected to meet in Shenzhen where China is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

The FT reported last week that Xi may host a trilateral meeting with Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. The trade issue is not expected to be a large part of the Trump-Xi meeting in Shenzhen, but will almost certainly be discussed in more detail when the US and Chinese presidents meet at the G20 in Miami in December. Bessent and Greer are expected to meet their Chinese counterparts in person at some point between Apec and the G20.

In September, US officials told the FT that China was only fulfilling two-thirds of its Busan pledge on rare earths. One person familiar with the situation said Beijing had not increased the supply of rare earths since Bessent raised concerns directly with He in New York in September ahead of Xi’s Washington meeting with Trump.

China has rejected US claims that it is not fulfilling its commitment on rare earths. The US has concluded that China is upholding pledges on purchases of soybeans but has not lived up to its promises for other agricultural produce.

The US is also concerned about Chinese restrictions on the export of yttrium, a critical rare earth for everything from jet engines to missiles, to Japan, which produces components for products manufactured in America. Local companies have warned the Japanese government that their stockpiles are running dangerously low.

🔗 https://unwall.app/www.ft.com/content/391bb785-0247-4c39-b53b-35007187d603