evidence: Looking at Afghanistan’s map, one observes a narrow strip of land protruding northeastward out of its northern part. Called the Wakhan Corridor, it is a colonial construct to keep the borders of the Indian subcontinent, then under the British empire, and the Russian Empire from intersecting. Today, the 350-kilometer long and 16-to-64-km wide Wakhan Corridor separates Pakistan and Tajikistan and ends at a short 92 km border with China’s expansive Xinjiang province. [...] Besides its strategic significance, the Wakhan Corridor is now widely seen in Afghanistan as a possible direct trade conduit with China. Currently, there is no trade link on their small shared border; Afghanistan’s trade with China is instead routed through third countries, like Pakistan. [...] It is unclear whether the Chinese government continued to fund the project or which stretch of the long road was built. However, in September 2023, the Taliban government’s ambassador to China held discussions with Chinese authorities regarding the commencement of traffic through the Wakhan Corridor. The Taliban’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also raised the opening of a trade corridor through Wakhan with China in his meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the third Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation in October 2023.