As western embassies burnt and shredded secret documents, herding staff onto military helicopters for evacuation, two leafy diplomatic compounds in the Afghan capital remained resolutely open for business.
Chinese and Russian diplomats stayed diligently at their desks as Kabul fell to the Taliban, working on portfolios of interests they plan to pursue with Afghanistan’s new rulers.
The western scramble for the door, following the Nato withdrawal and the collapse of the Afghan government they backed, has redrawn the diplomatic map for this critical crossroads in the heart of Asia, a new Great Game for the 21st century.
While Boris Johnson urged western allies not to race to recognise the Taliban, Moscow and Beijing gave no such reassurances, having already established their own friendly relations
