A very angry cable of AFP this week reluctantly confirms what Schiller Institute representatives learned from first-hand sources on the ground in Afghanistan last year: “As soon as he took office in December, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Beijing, Bilal Karimi, led discussions with the Chinese state-owned company MCC on Mes Aynak, the world’s second-largest copper deposit, 40 km from Kabul…. The project has been paralyzed by war and insecurity, as well as the discovery of a priceless Buddhist archaeological site.”
“We are negotiating with the Chinese,” Hamayoon Afghan, spokesman for the Ministry of Mines, told AFP, as published by [France 24](https://www.france24.com/fr/info-en-continu/20240131-la-chine-avance-ses-pions-en-afghan
