Why China’s Interests in the Arctic are Constrained
Worries that China’s behavior in the South China Sea foreshadows future provocations in the Arctic are exaggerated.
Drift ice camp in the middle of the Arctic Ocean as seen from the deck of the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long. Credit: Timo Palo, Creative Commons
China has broad ambitions for influence in the Arctic region, the northern polar region that is rich in natural resources, central to halting the effects of global warming and encircled by the eight, so-called arctic nations: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and the United States.
In recent years, China has invested heavily in the region, declared itself a “near Arctic state,” built ice-breakers and ships capable of exploring and traversing a region that could cut short its route to Germany, and included it in its plans for a “Polar Silk Road.” Taken together, these actions have alarmed some in the United States government, who have pressed Denmark to prevent China from buying an old military base in Greenland or helping build airports on the territory.
Some observers have even drawn links between China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea and its future potential behaviors in the Arctic. The popular conclusion is that actions suc
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