evidence: China’s diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan have been accompanied by targeted investments in local and regional security. In 2017, Chinese and Afghan police conducted "joint law enforcement operations" along the border region (PRC Ministry of Defense, February 24, 2017). In 2018, China provided funding for an Afghan training camp in Afghanistan’s Wakhan corridor–a narrow strip of land that links the two countries–to counter terrorism and smuggling. In response to a question about the training base, the Afghan embassy in Beijing emphasized that "there will be no Chinese military personnel of any kind of Afghan soil at any time" (SCMP, August 28, 2018). Janan Mosazai, Afghanistan’s then-ambassador to Beijing, later told journalists that China will provide counter-terror training to Afghan troops on Chinese soil (Reuters, September 6, 2018). Western intelligence has indicated that Beijing has established at least one military base in Tajikistan to monitor the Wakhan Corridor; the U.S. Department of Defense expects China’s military presence in the region to grow in the future (Washington Post, February 18, 2019; DoD Annual Report to Congress, September 2020).