Overtures by China to the Taliban indicate a bid to extract maximum benefit from the dramatic collapse of the US project in Afghanistan. But Beijing will remain watchful of the hardliners now running the show in Kabul, especially as Afghanistan borders Xinjiang, home to the Muslim-majority Uygurs. A fortnight before the Islamists seized power in a stunning lightning offensive, Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a Taliban delegation in Beijing. And just a day after the Taliban entered Kabul, the word from China was it was ready to deepen "friendly and cooperative" ties with Afghanistan. While Beijing says it has no…