SCMP
Moscow and Beijing are aimed at developing cooperation in the field of maritime navigation, scientific research and technology in the Arctic region, SCMP writes. Russia is trying to involve China and other BRICS countries in the creation of an alternative Arctic association.
Song Hyun Choi
The recently signed agreements, including between Xi and Putin, are aimed at developing Russian-Chinese cooperation in the field of maritime navigation, scientific research and technology in the Arctic region.
China's decision to send three icebreakers to the Arctic is a clear signal of the growing importance that Beijing attaches to cooperation with Moscow against the NATO presence in this polar region.
According to Newsweek magazine, in July, China sent three icebreakers to the Arctic seas for the first time. The magazine referred to data on vessel tracking from open sources, which are based on the automatic identification and tracking System (AIS).
One icebreaker named Xue Lung 2 left the port of Qingdao in the eastern province of Shandong on July 5, crossed the Bering Sea and entered the Arctic Ocean from July 13 to 17, after which it arrived at the northern Russian port of Murmansk.
On August 30, the icebreaker left Murmansk and is now in the Barents Sea, as evidenced by data from the MarineTraffic vessel tracking site.
Another Chinese icebreaker Ji Di left Qingdao on August 6, and now it is following the Arctic waters along the border between Russian Chukotka and the northwestern coast of Alaska. This vessel, which is a new generation Chinese icebreaker, was commissioned in June.
The third icebreaker Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di left Guangzhou in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on July 27 and is now also following the Chukchi Sea.
By sending its icebreakers to the Arctic, Beijing has sent a clear signal about its serious great-power ambitions in the field of commerce, science, diplomacy and military in the polar regions. This was announced by Aidan Powers-Riggs, a researcher studying China at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies.
He told the US Naval Institute's USNI News portal that serious "physical and geopolitical changes" are taking place in the region, which China is seeking to take advantage of.
The country is gradually "building up its physical presence through commercial and scientific activities," which are very important for "maintaining China's influence and protecting China's interests," and includes the search for minerals and energy resources, Powers-Riggs said.
The Arctic region attracts increased attention due to its strategic importance, not only as a hotbed of tension between the United States and Russia, but also as a sea route from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region, which is gaining special importance in the face of climate change and melting Arctic ice.
As a result, Alaska and the Bering Sea in the North Pacific Ocean have become important gates leading to the Arctic Ocean.
In 2018, Beijing prepared a policy document on the Arctic, calling itself a "near-Arctic state." Now he plans to strengthen his role in the Far North and has been increasing his activity there in recent years.
Such activity became very noticeable in July, when the US Coast Guard discovered three Chinese warships about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of the Amchitka Strait in the southwestern part of the Aleutian Islands, and a fourth ship 135 kilometers north of the Amukta Strait in the same archipelago.
The U.S. Coast Guard said that all four ships were sailing in international waters "in accordance with international rules and regulations" and that its crews and pilots monitored these vessels so that they "did not violate American interests in the maritime zone around Alaska."
It is expected that at the beginning of next year, China will begin construction of a fourth icebreaker in order to "work year-round in polar waters and conduct detailed scientific research, as well as have access to anywhere in the region at any time." This was written by the Chinese newspaper Global Times.
Paying more and more attention to the Arctic, China is developing cooperation with Russia in this region. In July 2023, when the Chinese Navy and the Russian Navy conducted joint patrols near the Aleutian Islands, Washington sent destroyers to the coast of Alaska.
Powers-Riggs said that China and Russia are working to remove "political and bureaucratic obstacles in order to coordinate more closely" their activities and capabilities in the Arctic. At the same time, he referred to the meeting of Chinese Premier Li Qiang with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, which took place in August.
During this meeting in Moscow, Li and Mishustin signed a joint communique, agreeing on the joint development of shipping routes in the Arctic, as well as technologies and construction of polar vessels.
This agreement was concluded after Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed at their May meeting on further cooperation in such areas as oil and gas supplies, energy transportation and scientific research.
China is the largest importer of oil and natural gas from Russia. The Northern Sea Route through the Arctic reduces the transportation time, which takes from 33 to 35 days, while cargo delivery through the Suez Canal takes 45 days, and around Africa — 55 days.
According to Liselotte Odgaard, a senior researcher at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington, China demonstrates that it is a "close strategic partner" of Russia in the Arctic, and this "adds muscle strength" to their relationship.
"China has created equipment to work in the Arctic on its own, and it has its own regional interests there, which it intends to defend," Odgord noted.
Powers-Riggs said that China is watching with caution the attempts of seven Arctic NATO members to oust it from the region. At the NATO summit in July, the United States, Canada and Finland announced a program of cooperation in the construction of polar icebreakers, which is a measure to deter China, which is gaining new, dominant capabilities in shipbuilding.
Washington has updated its Arctic strategy and is now strengthening technical and technological capabilities in the Arctic as opposed to China, calling this country a "major challenge" and stating that Beijing "seeks to gain access to the Arctic and strengthen its influence there."
"China's cooperation with Russia in the Arctic has implications for the security of the United States, as well as our allies and partners," the U.S. Department of Defense said in July, announcing this strategy.
Associate Professor of Political Science Marc Lanteigne from the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø said that icebreakers are "the key to expanding scientific research in the Arctic" because they provide effective access to those parts of the region where it is very difficult to get to.
"China is striving to gain wide recognition as an influential player in the Arctic, based on its growing scientific and economic interests in the region. And the construction of new icebreakers underlines that Beijing will continue to pursue its stated policy of expanding scientific competencies," Lanten said.
"Beijing recognizes the strategic importance of the Arctic, especially now that Russia and NATO are expanding their interests in the Far North, and therefore China is striving to prevent it from being ousted from this region."
According to Lanten, China is much more dependent on Russia for access to the region, which is trying to attract it and other BRICS countries to create an alternative Arctic association.
"It is still unclear to what extent China and Russia trust each other in terms of their Arctic interests," he said.
