China publishes ‘Polar Silk Road’ white paper
January 30, 2018 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
The Chinese government released its first official Arctic policy white paper, outlining its ambition for a “Polar Silk Road”. Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said China would encourage companies to build infrastructure and conduct commercial trial voyages that would “bring opportunities to the Arctic”. He added that China is an important stakeholder in the Arctic, a region that mattered to the entire international community. “Regarding the role China will play in Arctic affairs, I want to emphasize two points. One is that we will not interfere, second is that we will not to be absent,” Kong told reporters in Beijing.
In the white paper, Beijing calls for more scientific research and environmental protection for the Arctic Circle, and it also reveals its ambition to tap resources and take part in governance. It suggests exploration of a potential shipping route across the Arctic – which it dubs the “Polar Silk Road” – as well as development of oil, gas, mineral resources and other non-renewable energy sources, fishing and tourism in the region. The distance from China to Europe through the Northeast Passage in the Arctic is about one-third shorter than traditional routes.
The Arctic has 30% of the world’s undiscovered natural gas and 13% of its undiscovered oil reserves. As rising temperatures result in sea ice melting across the Arctic, there are new opportunities for ships to travel through previously inaccessible, resource-rich areas. Chinese President Xi Jinping first raised the idea of the “Polar Silk Road” in Moscow last year, unveiling a series of plans with Russia in the Arctic that would be incorporated into the ever expanding “Belt and Road Initiative”, a trade and infrastructure strategy spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and that now also has been extended to Latin America.
China has stepped up its engagement in the Arctic in recent years and was granted observer status on the Arctic Council in 2013, which gives a role in the governance of the region. The council comprises eight member countries bordering the Arctic – Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, the United States and Iceland, the South China Morning Post reports.
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