Report: China in the Arctic- Limitation or Opportunity?
The PRC’s Strategic Expansion in the Arctic and its Implications for Arctic Governance
In a 2018 white paper, the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) famously characterised itself as a “near-Arctic state”. For many political and international relations observers, this was a pivotal moment in PRC’s strategy in the Arctic region, and a first-of-a-kind admission of an interest in greater influence in the region. Since then, however, a more concrete picture of Chinese interests and their impact on the political, economic, and security situation in the region has remained elusive. As strategic competition between Western countries and the PRC intensifies, attention is shifting towards the Arctic and other domains on the periphery, whose importance on the geopolitical stage is bound to keep increasing.
This sole-authored report by Eva Kristinova provides a comprehensive overview of China’s current and growing interests and activities in the Arctic and provides an analysis of the impact this has had on the geopolitics of the region.