FILE – In this Aug. 19, 2021 file photo, Taliban fighters patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan. In the U.S. departure from Afghanistan, China has seen the realization of long-held hopes for a reduction of the influence of a geopolitical rival in what it considers its backyard. Yet, it is also deeply concerned that the very withdrawal could bring instability to that backyard – Central Asia – and possibly even spill over the border into China itself in its heavily Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)