The Wakhan corridor is the fingerlike strip of land that extends toward China's Xinjiang province, with Tajikistan to its north and Pakistan to the south.
An increasingly important component of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative can be found in the Central Asian corridor that connects China and Afghanistan. China has been expanding its economic and security cooperation in Central Asia in recent years. Reports this week that China plans to build a military base for Afghanistan's armed forces in the northeastern province of Badakhshan suggest that the strategic yet perennially unstable country is quickly following through on the plan. Forging Plans for a New Base Afghan defense officials reportedly discussed plans for a base in Badakhshan during a visit to Beijing in December. The two sides agreed to "deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields including anti-terrorism operations, and push forward the state and military relations between the two countries," according to Afghan Gen. Dawlat Waziri on Jan 7.
