Arctic Ambitions
Three weeks ago one of the Silk Road Headlines’ recommended reads was a news story about the first commercial ships to have successfully sailed the Northern Sea Route in February. As a result of climate change, soon year-round navigation will be possible along the full Northern Sea Route: from China to Europe. This opens up more possibilities for the Polar Silk Road.
This month, Finnish media reported on a failed attempt by the Polar Research Institute of China to lease or buy an airport in northern Finland in 2018. The airport would be used to conduct research flights over the Arctic. Negotiations were led by the director of the Polar Research Institute of China, and the director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration but also included an assistant to the military attaché of the Chinese embassy in Helsinki [The Diplomat: China’s Arctic Ambitions Face Increasing Headwinds in Finland].
The Finnish case highlights that there are several reasons why the Arctic is an important region, both for Arctic nations (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, US, Canada, Greenland/Denmark, Iceland) as for others, such as self-defined “near-Arctic state” China. Trade, for instance through a year-round open Northern Sea Route, is one example. Potential oil drilling and scientific research are others. A fourth, military and strategic competition in the Arctic, is also something both Arctic nations and the near-Arctic state work on.
The Finnish Defense Forces rejected the airport deal on the grounds of security concerns, and seem to have acted, similarly to other European nations in recent years, with more caution towards China. According to the article in The Diplomat, the airport would have been developed to accommodate heavy aircraft. Not only Finland and China are considering strategic objectives in the Arctic, the US Army recently released its new Arctic strategy with aims that are rather straightforward: the title of the strategy is “Regaining Arctic Dominance”. Whether or not a Chinese-led Polar Silk Road succeeds, or whether the US Army will ‘regain dominance’ in the Arctic, it will certainly be an interesting region to watch.
Vera Kranenburg
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