China in talks to build military base in Afghanistan?

via StraitTimes

Worried about militants sneaking into a restive Chinese region from war-torn Afghanistan, Beijing is in talks with Kabul over the construction of a military base, Afghan officials say, as it seeks to shore up its fragile neighbour.

The army camp will be built in Afghanistan's remote and mountainous Wakhan Corridor, where witnesses have reported seeing Chinese and Afghan troops on joint patrols.
The freezing, barren panhandle of land - bordering China's tense Xinjiang region - is so cut off from the rest of Afghanistan that many inhabitants are unaware of the Afghan conflict, scraping out harsh but peaceful lives.

However they retain strong links with neighbours in Xinjiang, and with so few travellers in the region local interest in the Chinese visitors has been high, residents told AFP on a recent visit there.

China's involvement in the base comes as President Xi Jinping seeks to extend Beijing's economic and geopolitical clout.

Story here. 

Do you know how many rumors I've heard about Chinese troops operating in Afghanistan?

I dismissed it out of hand.

I was wrong.

What the fuck is really going on with this?  China has a firm handle on internal dissidents and crushes even minor "rebellions" so I don't think that this has a thing to do with their internal security concerns.

ISIS might decide to jack with Western countries because we have soft leadership, soft citizens and laws that make us targets.  China doesn't suffer from any of that, so no, ISIS won't be crossing into their territory to cause mayhem.

The Silk Road?

Could that be it?

It's really the only thing that makes sense.  It's really the only reason why we would continue to fight in that region.  We could leave today and if a new Bin Laden rose up we could simply vaporize him from 50,000 ft via B-2 strike.

Amazing.  All the people and treasure that has been sacrificed in Afghanistan and the only thing I can figure is to simply follow the money...or rather money making opportunity.