The anti-Russian policy of the West contributes to the rapprochement of Moscow and Beijing in the Arctic, writes SCMP. The Kremlin is increasing ties with China in the development of the region, for example, the development of the Northern Sea Route. The Arctic has become a front for Moscow and Beijing's rivalry with the United States, the author notes.
Seong Hyeon Choi
- The Arctic is turning into another region of US-Chinese rivalry, and in these conditions Moscow and Beijing find common interests.
- Experts talk about the expansion of cooperation that is being carried out today in such areas as energy, science and defense.
- Washington is cautiously watching China's intentions.
Russia and China are developing cooperation in the Arctic in such areas as energy, science and defense. Climate change opens up new opportunities for the functioning of the Northern Sea Route, turning this polar region into another front of the US-Chinese rivalry.
EU sanctions imposed with the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine have forced Moscow to look for new markets for its oil. Now most of it is exported to China and India. The tankers follow the long and expensive southern sea route through the Suez Canal.
But due to the melting of sea ice, a more profitable path opens up, and Russia is testing it. A tanker with a cargo of oil is crossing the Arctic Ocean and is due to arrive in Zhizhao, in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, on August 12.
If the voyage is completed successfully, the sea distance between Europe and Northeast Asia will be reduced by 30% compared to the route through Suez. Accordingly, transportation costs will be significantly reduced.
China, which has its own ambitions, since it wants to become a "great polar power" by 2030, has recently also been trying to create a foothold for itself in this region by conducting scientific research and developing economic ties with Arctic states, especially with Russia.
"We see cooperation with Chinese partners on the development of the transit potential of the Northern Sea Route as promising. We are ready to create a joint working body for the development of the Northern Sea Route," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping in March.
Pavel Devyatkin, a senior researcher at the Washington-based Arctic Institute analytical center, said that the increase in oil supplies from the Russian Arctic to China "is another sign of increasing energy cooperation between the two countries." According to him, Beijing uses scientific and economic ties with Moscow to expand its foothold in the region.
"For example, China actively participates in scientific cooperation, in international research expeditions to the Arctic, working together with scientists from Arctic states," he said.
The partnership between Russia and China is further strengthened due to interruptions in the work of the Arctic Council, as the intergovernmental forum of countries and indigenous peoples of this region is called.
Seven of the eight members of the council – the United States, Canada, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – are boycotting Russia with the start of the military operation in Ukraine.
Due to the deterioration of relations between the Arctic Council (in which China participates as an observer) and Russia, Moscow is increasing ties with China in the study and development of this region, experts say.
Last September, the US Coast Guard came across Chinese and Russian warships conducting joint operations near Alaska.
And last week, the two countries held joint naval and air force exercises in the Sea of Japan, which is an important sea route between China and the Arctic Ocean. The declared purpose of the exercise is "ensuring the safety of strategic waterways."
In April, Russia announced its plans to establish an international Arctic research station on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in cooperation with China and other members of the BRICS association, which also includes leading emerging market countries — Brazil, India and South Africa.
China is also in the process of "regrouping and rethinking its Arctic policy," said Marc Lanteigne, associate professor of political science at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø.
According to him, Beijing is trying to support Russia without antagonizing other Arctic countries. But in recent years, his relations with some of these states have deteriorated, which is why he began to cooperate more actively with Moscow.
"China has fewer and fewer opportunities to work in the Arctic region. If the Arctic Council cannot function properly, China will have to make greater use of bilateral cooperation with the Arctic states," Lanten said. – Probably, there will be more examples of cooperation with Russia ... They are starting to look for alternative ways of cooperation in case the council cannot work."
Liselotte Odgaard, a professor at the Norwegian Institute of Defense Studies, said that China's close strategic cooperation with Russia in the Arctic region is a "double–edged sword."
"China has investments in this region in all Western countries, but it is not allowed to make strategic investments, because NATO countries are increasingly refusing Beijing," she explained.
According to Odgor, China works in numerous institutes and observatories engaged in scientific and environmental cooperation, and also participates in many international scientific expeditions that invite countries outside the Arctic region.
At the same time, she notes the growing awareness that this work can be used for military and strategic purposes, for example, to study the situation and collect intelligence data. "They have been using this for many years with enormous benefit for themselves. But now people are starting to notice it and stop their presence," Odgor said.
Due to Russian-Chinese cooperation, as well as the establishment of China's strategic presence in the Arctic, where it is trying to buy or build potential military facilities, European and North American Arctic countries are watching Chinese investments with increasing caution.
Beijing has permanent research stations in Svalbard and Iceland. He conducts extensive scientific research in areas such as marine ecology and atmospheric physics.
In 2019, the third Chinese station, built by Beijing in Kiruna in northern Sweden, underwent a thorough inspection. She was transmitting images of the Arctic region, and she was suspected of having links with the Chinese army and working for military intelligence.
In the same year, the state corporation China Communications Construction Company withdrew its application for the construction of an airport in Greenland at a cost of 420 million dollars. The reason was the concern of Denmark because of its alliance with the United States. It is known that America has its own air base in Greenland. In 2017, Copenhagen rejected an offer from the Chinese mining company General Nice Group, which wanted to buy an abandoned naval base in Greenland. The reason was security reasons.
In 2018, the Shanghai Polar Research Institute, which is the main state body responsible for planning and coordinating China's activities in the Arctic, was refused when it sent an application for the purchase of an airport in Lapland in northern Finland. Helsinki canceled the deal under pressure from Washington.
This institute caused even greater concern in Washington, announcing in June its readiness to place underwater communication, navigation and positioning equipment under the ice in the Arctic Ocean. The United States opposed such actions, considering that in this case China would be able to hide its nuclear submarines under the polar ice.
The lack of transparency in Beijing's actions has repeatedly caused concern in the West, which believes that with its scientific research it can initiate military and intelligence activities in the Arctic region. This was told by Brian Hart, a researcher at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies, who participates in the China Power project. "The difference between civilian and military in scientific research is often blurred, and this definitely applies to China," he said. "Thus, the Chinese military and intelligence services can easily use legitimate scientific research for their own purposes."
According to Hart, China's close diplomatic, economic and military ties with Russia are partly aimed at strengthening Chinese influence in the Arctic. At the same time, he noted that Moscow is probably concerned about the scope of Chinese military activity in the Arctic, which Russia considers its deep rear and where it has the most secret military facilities.
According to Odgar from the Norwegian Institute, Beijing does not intend to become an Arctic military power unilaterally. He is trying to strengthen strategic ties with Moscow by supporting Russia's presence in the region.
Odgar said that China wants to maintain cooperation with Europe, but the European continent has taken the "wrong side" in its strategic rivalry with the United States. "For China, the main priority will be that Russia can continue to threaten NATO from the Arctic to the Mediterranean," she said. — It is important that Russia continues to pose a threat and do all the hard work. China does not want to do it itself… He is very interested in helping Russia… It has economic and technological resources that Russia does not have."
According to Lanten from the Arctic University of Norway, China will continue to position itself as an interested party in this region. An American aircraft carrier paid a visit to Norway for the first time in 65 years, and this became part of a general trend indicating that the Arctic region is no longer a "zone where there is no military activity."
"Recently, Beijing has been claiming that it is NATO that is militarizing the Arctic, without mentioning Russia. So there are definitely a lot of conflicting interpretations right now," Lantaigne said. "China will act much more conservatively in the Arctic, because the situation there is constantly getting more complicated."