It is not without reason that Afghanistan is known as the “graveyard of empires”. The ancient Greeks, the Mongols, the Mughals, the British, the Soviet Union and most recently the US have all launched vainglorious invasions that saw their ambitions and the blood of their soldiers drain into the sand.

But after each imperial retreat, a new tournament of shadows begins. With the US pulling out of Afghanistan, China is casting an anxious gaze towards its western frontier and pursuing talks with an ascendant Taliban, the Islamist movement that was removed from power in 2001.

The burning questions are not only whether the Taliban can fill the power vacuum created by the US withdrawal but also whether China — despite its longstanding policy of “non-interference” — may become the next superpower to try to write a chapter in Afghanistan’s history.