Lynne O'Donnell
Beijing has cast itself as a mediator between Pakistan and the Taliban, neighbours locked in a border conflict that was bound to erupt. China has leant on its ties to both sides to present itself as the only route to stability.
But the effort has stalled before it has properly begun. The frontier is still hot since the serious outbreak of fighting began in February, with strikes continuing in both directions. Neither Pakistan nor the Taliban has shifted position.
What China has exposed is not its influence, but its limits. Its intervention was designed to keep instability from spilling across its borders and into Chinese interests. That transactional, risk-averse approach leaves Beijing with no real leverage over either side. From a distance, it looks like control; up close, it is drift.
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