China Wants To Lay Claim To The Arctic

Beijing’s Arctic Play: Just the Tip Of The Iceberg -- Elizabeth C. Economy. The Diplomat

China has clearly signaled that it has a strong interest in the Arctic region.

If you pay attention, Chinese foreign policy rarely surprises. Of course there is the odd moment when Beijing catches the world unaware: for example, its declaration of an Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea in late 2013. Generally speaking, however, the Chinese telegraph their long-term strategic intentions through their smaller tactical maneuvers. It is just that the rest of the world sometimes misses the signals or doesn’t know what to do with the information. Such is the case with China’s emerging play in the Arctic.

Over the past several years, China has begun to stake out its claim to the Arctic. No part of China actually touches the Arctic, but as a recent International Institute for Strategic Studies commentary points out, Chinese scholars routinely describe their country as a “near-Arctic” state, and Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo has argued that the “Arctic belongs to all the people around the world, as no nation has sovereignty over it… China must play an indispensable role in Arctic exploration as we have one-fifth of the world’s population.” This is a signal of Chinese intent.

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My Comment: This is not the first time that China has made such claims. I actually had such a conversation with my Chinese friends a few years ago .... they were trying to convince me that the Arctic belongs to the world, and those who have the means should exploit it (i.e. to look for oil and natural resources). That claim is (in my opinion) ridiculous and dubious .... but that is what they are preaching in Beijing.