March 30, 2012:
While China and Russia have constantly sought to block UN backing for rebels in Iran, North Korea, and Arab dictatorships, these two "dictator friendly" nations have continued to support Western military and diplomatic efforts against terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The reason for this is self-interest. Islamic terrorist has long been a big problem for Russia and is a growing threat to China. Even more bothersome is all the heroin and opium coming out of Afghanistan. Most of it now goes to the West, which includes Russia. The growing drug addict population in Russia is traced right back to Afghanistan. Much of the heroin reaching Western Europe is smuggled though Russia, often by Moslem gangsters.
Actually, all of Afghanistan's neighbors are angry about all the drug addicts they now find in their midst because of the Afghan heroin and opium. Afghanistan produces 90 percent of the world supply of this stuff and that's something Russia, China, and even Iran have to consider before they try and shut down NATO military operations in Afghanistan.
Neighboring states, and this includes Russia, cannot send troops into Afghanistan because of past bad behavior against the Afghans. China does not want to get involved militarily, if only because Afghan heroin and opium has not yet become a major problem. The other ten percent of the world's heroin and opium production comes from Burma, which has been supplying China with opium for centuries, and China has been fighting that source for just as long. But Afghanistan and Pakistan have also provided sanctuary for Islamic terrorists from China and that is another reason for China to support foreign troops in Afghanistan.