This article is from WeChat public account:IPP Comments (ID:IPP-REVIEW)< span class = "text-remarks">, author: Hao Wen Yan, research assistant public policy Institute of South China University of Technology, policy analyst, title figure from: vision China
In mid-August of 2019, Trump, the undisclosed US President, once again made a shocking remark that he intended to buy Greenland. For this remark, the response of Danish Prime Minister Met F. Fraserrickson (Mette Frederiksen) is: This is “absurd” (absurd). Although it has caused a “small farce”, it also reflects two situations. First, the United States has low concern for the Arctic affairs, and has insufficient control over the positions and attitudes of countries in the Arctic affairs. Second, the United States. Feeling this vacancy, and some of the threats this vacancy has caused to the United States, it is gradually increasing its focus and participation in Arctic affairs.
In fact, Trump’s interest in Greenland has long been known. It is said that Trump has been talking about his idea of buying Greenland from time to time in private, and instructed the National Security Council to study this idea. . Even at a meeting, Trump joked that he would take Puerto Rico to exchange Greenland. In the near future, the United States’ actions in dealing with the Arctic affairs have gradually increased. In June of this year, the United States took the initiative to stop China’s investment in the three airport expansion projects in Greenland and successfully lobbied the Danish government to beat Chinese companies in the bidding.
In the past decade, human activity in the Arctic has increased rapidly. Many countries hope to get a slice of the Arctic affairs. (Source: Network)
current Arctic situation
In fact, with climate change and global warming, the situation in the Arctic is also heating up. Environmental changes in the Arctic region not only profoundly affect the global climate and ecological stability, but also gradually influence the changes in geopolitics in today’s world. Just in late September of this year, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report on oceans and cryosphere in climate change. It is mentioned that in the past decade, human activities in the Arctic Circle have increased rapidly, including fisheries, ship transportation and rapid growth of tourism.
At the same time, the Arctic region is rich in energy and mineral resources. The Arctic Council reports that the Arctic region has 90 billion barrels of oil, 1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 44 billion barrels of liquid natural gas, and the Arctic region. Proven oil reserves account for 5.3% of the world’s proven oil reserves, and proven natural gas reserves account for 21.7% of the world’s total. The undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Arctic are estimated to account for 27.6% of the global total. At the same time, there are a large number of copper-nickel-bismuth complexes in the Arctic, as well as gold, silver, diamond and uranium and iron. This has attracted the attention of many countries.
In recent years, many countries including the Arctic have joined the Arctic Council, including China, and the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and even India and Singapore have introduced Arctic policies. They have successively become Arctic Councils during 2013-2015. Observer States are actively involved in the Arctic affairs. This reflects that many countries hope to get a slice of the Arctic affairs.
It needs to be added that at present, a regional mechanism centered on the Arctic Council has been formed in the Arctic affairs. Despite this, in reality, the Arctic countries, especially the Arctic countries, are playing a leading role. The Arctic countries are wary of the involvement of extraterritorial countries in the Arctic affairs. In recent years, the trend of regional protectionism has been continuously strengthened, restricting the activities of extraterritorial countries in the Arctic.
At the same time, in the ArcticWithin the country, competition is also heating up. With the melting of Arctic glaciers, Russia, Canada and Denmark are actively pursuing sovereignty over the territorial sea. This caused dissatisfaction in the United States. At the Ministerial Conference of the Arctic Council in May this year, US Secretary of State Pompeo accused this staking behavior and criticized this behavior intensifying competition in the Arctic. Other Arctic countries, such as Scandinavia and Denmark and Iceland, are worried about the control of the Arctic affairs in the three major countries of the United States, Russia and Canada, fearing that they will be marginalized in the Arctic affairs.
A gesture of a big country on the Arctic issue
Russia can be said to be the most active power in the Arctic issue. Of course, this is not something to be surprised. Russia is the largest Arctic country with the longest coastline in the Arctic Circle. The Arctic is a region of concern for Russia. The significance of the Arctic to Russia is incomparable to any country. In April this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would formulate the “Russian Arctic Development Strategy before 2035”, and Putin mentioned that one-tenth of Russia’s current economic investment is in the Arctic. With the reduction of the Arctic ice sheet and the increase in human activities in the Arctic, Russia’s Arctic policy has also been based on safety from the past, and gradually moved toward safety and economy.
In terms of security, Russia restored and built an Arctic military base to increase the deployment of sea-based and land-based nuclear weapons in the Arctic. Moreover, in recent years Russia has increased the number of military exercises in the Arctic. Military deployment to the Arctic has shown a further strengthening trend. In economic terms, the introduction of capital and technology to increase the development of territories in the Arctic region, many of which are cooperation with China. At the same time, it has enhanced the control of the Arctic waterway. However, it should be noted that the good bilateral relations between China and Russia do not mean that Russia has full confidence in China on the Arctic issue. Russia, including China, has maintained a cautious and alert attitude towards many countries in the Arctic affairs.
China participates in Arctic affairs far