4um: U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division protecting Chinese copper mine in Afghanistan.

What will he get from a Chinese copper mine in Afghanistan?

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by Hartco Strategies:

Geologist James R. Yeager, who served as Advisor to the Ministry of Mines in Afghanistan, will host a news conference to release his report on the Aynak Copper Tender in Logar Province which shows how a flawed process, the bias of a government official and lack of concern by U.S. officials led to China gaining a huge foothold in exploiting Afghanistan's natural resources.

DATE: Thursday, October 15, 2009

TIME: 1 p.m.

PLACE: National Press Club, Lisagor Room

The Honorable Don Ritter, Sc. D., served as Writing Project Coordinator for
this report. Ritter has 30 years experience with Afghanistan as a former
congressman, businessman and investor.

Contributors include former Minister of Mines Sediq and Mr. Ed Smith, former
head of the Afghanistan Recovery Group at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

James Yeager has over 30 years experience in geology and mining and has managed exploration and development projects in the United States, Mexico,Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia and Australia.

SOURCE Hartco Strategies

Larry Hart of Hartco Strategies, +1-202-262-1168 (mobile)

RESOURCE-HUNGRY CHINA HEADS TO AFGHANISTAN
Posted: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 2:01 PM

By Adrienne Mong, NBC News Producer

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan 51; Early on a recent morning we were driving to a shoot when an astonishing sight loomed up ahead of us. NBC News cameraman Steve O57;Neill exclaimed, "It57;s the Great Wall of China!"

The "wall" snaking before us, easily several miles long, was made of Hesco sandbags and circled a camp for Chinese workers. Though not permitted to enter the site, we could see rows and rows of neat white buildings with blue trim; the temporary structures looked exactly like the migrant workers57; housing at construction sites all across China.

Size apart, it was all somewhat unremarkable, except for the fact that we were in eastern Afghanistan.

"It's the Great Wall of China," said NBC cameraman Steve O'Neill when we saw the Hesco sandbags surrounding the Chinese workers camp at the Aynak copper mine in Afghanistan.

The Chinese workers 51; several hundred technicians 51; are part of a multibillion-dollar Chinese investment in Afghanistan57;s largest-ever infrastructure project, the Aynak copper mine.

Discovered in 1974 but virtually dormant since the start of the Soviet War in 1979, the Aynak mine is believed to contain the world57;s second-largest untapped copper deposits and could propel Afghanistan into the ranks of the world57;s top 15 copper producers.

After wooing Afghan officials from as early as 2001, a Chinese mainland joint venture finally won the rights in 2007 to develop the site over 30 years. So far, it has sunk more than $4 billion into the project.

The joint venture 51; between majority partner China Metallurgical Group Corp. and Jiangxi Copper Corp. 51; expects production to begin by the end of 2011 with an initial annual output of 180,000 tons of copper that will eventually grow to 320,000 tons. China will have rights to half that output, which it needs to fuel its own massive economic growth.

But the mine is just outside Kabul, in Logar Province, where there has been heightened insurgent activity. Some 1,500 Afghan police are stationed on site with a new police barracks in the works. And although they say they are not attached to the project, the U.S. Army57;s 10th Mountain Division occasionally sends units to patrol the area. China 51; of course, not being a member of NATO 51; has no troops on the ground in Afghanistan.

It57;s this set-up that57;s feeding a percolating debate about China57;s role in Afghanistan.

Making the world safe for Chinese commerce. OOrah!

We are spending hundreds of billions of dollars establishing ...PERMANENT...bases in Afghan.

This government has no intention of leaving, whether it be Bush, Obama, Biden or some other puppet.

The People57;s Daily has a headline news story about the joint efforts undertaken by China and the United States to rebuild devastated parts of Afghanistan. The title of the news story quotes a member of the U.S. military as stating that 60;currently we are not opposed to each other.61;

The news story was originally published on the website of the China Youth Daily, which in turn makes reference to material from a story published by the U.S. Yahoo web portal on 23 June.

60;The United States and China have formed a special alliance relationship, to jointly preserve the stability of Afghanistan. In a valley of Afghanistan which has been the site for Taliban armed activities for a long time, U.S. troops and Chinese road-workers are garrisoned together. The U.S. troops endure risk to protect the Chinese workers, while Chinese workers, heedless of danger, construct a road whose completion the U.S. army eagerly awaits.61;

60;This is a unique example of global cooperation between the United States and China. China needs the United States to protect the global trade networks which are of key importance to its export-led economy, while the United States needs Chinese investment to support it under uncertain circumstances. Chinese companies were some of the first foreign companies to re- enter Iraq.

60;On 9 June the Afghan foreign minister visited China, and representatives of both countries discussed the possibility of cooperation on oil, natural gas and iron ore projects, as well as the possibility of the opening of commercial interactions on the border between China and Afghanistan - one example being the construction of a road linking the border regions. The border between China and Afghanistan is located in a remote region which is difficult to access by vehicle.61;

60;At present, China57;s largest investment in Afghanistan has been an investment of 3 billion USD by two Chinese companies into the development of the huge Aynak copper fields in Logar Province, south of the capital Kabul. According to the agreement, China Metallurgical Group and the Jiangxi Copper Assocation have agreed to build schools, clinics, market places, mosques and a power plant in the area. The two Chinese companies have also indicated that they will construct a railway that passes through Pakistan and connects China and Afghanistan, and lay a railway that extends from the copper mines to northern Afghanistan. The Afghanistan government estimates that this project will create 6000 jobs. The chief secretary for the Jiangxi Copper Association, Pan Qi-fang, says that 56;the reason that working in Afghanistan is safe, is because Americans were here to protect us.57;61;

60;According to data from the China Ministry of Commerce, as of 2008, Chinese enteprises had 33 projects in Afghanistan for the construction of basic infrastructure, with a total value of 480 million USD (not including the large- scale copper mine project). The Ministry of Commerce states that since 2004, a total of 11 Chinese aid workers and other workers have been killed in attacks in Afghanistan, which has caused some reluctance amongst Chinese enterprises (to enter the region). In 2008, China57;s total exports to Afghanistan were worth 152 million USD, a fall of 10.4% compared to the previous year.61;

60;In June 2008, a Chinese engineer who had been kidnapped was rescued by Afghan troops after nearly a month in captivity. Because of the security situation, Chinese companies ceased work for 3 month. Not long after resuming work, they were forced to suspend projects again due to the onset of winter. In February of this year, Lt. Colonel Kimo Gallahue led troops into this snow- covered valley to bring a modicum of peace. One of his missions is to ensure the safety of the valley, and enable work on the highway to continue.61;

60;The U.S. military has a group of soldiers stationed on an elevated vantage point, where they overlook the work site of the Chinese company. The walls of the company buildings still have bullet holes from attacks by armed groups last year. The work site and offices of the Chinese company are in constant view of the U.S. soldiers. Wang Shang-kui says: 56;When security conditions permit it we work. When they don57;t, then we cease work.61;

60;At present, 11 miles of the 33-mile long project have been completed. (Wang) says that the U.S. troops are continually urging them to hurry completion of the project. Lt. Colonel Gallahoe, when discussing the Chinese workers says: 56;They have their own restrictions, and we have ours. Their needs are not always completely the same as ours, but there is no conflict between us, at least not at present.

Like when certain posters try to antagonize others by boasting how certain areas of the country should be nuked and their citizens fried like crispy critters. Those comments never seem to be included in the uncivil discourse categories by those wanting Destro banned though. Go figure.

Well, that set me into motion researching and asking question as who, what, when and where.

That was a very telling moment ... one that has been divulged about more than one "website owner", unfortunately.

what we're sposed to do is get all excited about china depriving us of resources we need to maintain our benevolent global hegemony.

we will need to nuke china to ensure our access to resources that will enable us to defend israel.

if western what-passes-for-civilization is stupid enough to fall for this ploy, good riddance.

They will leave when the Afgans learn how to build a small nuke and nuke them. I'm sure they must be on the verge of developing one now. ;)

it's inconceivable that chinese would have their own language and history books, and that they've paid attention to the US and its progress since kennedy.

now you authoritarians will have to learn to love your chinese masters... but loving your masters comes to you naturally, doesnt it?

just when you've become accustomed to serving your jewish masters, you have to learn to serve your chinese masters.

and the big question remains: if you are so superior, how come you will wind up kowtowing to inferior races?

so it boils down to the same solution, time after time: we will prove our racial superiority by nuking everybody who doesnt agree that we're racially superior.