(Question about things) Biecerica: China is not an Arctic country, why is it involved in Arctic affairs?
China News Agency, Moscow, October 30th, title: China is not an Arctic country, why does it participate in Arctic affairs?
——Interview with Vladimir Fedelvich Becherica, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
China News Agency reporter Wang Xiujun
The Arctic is mainly composed of the Arctic Ocean covered by vast ice sheets and a circle of tundra surrounding it.
In recent years, with the global warming and the in-depth development of economic globalization and regional integration, the value of the Arctic in terms of strategy, economy, scientific research, environmental protection, navigation channels, and resources has continued to increase.
In 2013, China became an official observer country of the Arctic Council.
In July 2017, the leaders of China and Russia met and reached a political consensus on carrying out cooperation on the Northern Sea Route and jointly building the "Ice Silk Road".
However, China's participation in Arctic affairs and Sino-Russian cooperation in the Arctic have been speculated and over-interpreted by some countries.
Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences and professor of the Department of Political Science of the Far Eastern Federal University, Vladimir Fedelvich Biecherica, is a well-known professor of political science.
In August 2021, he once again talked about China and the Arctic in his new book "Understanding the Arctic in World Politics and International Relations".
In a recent exclusive interview with China News Service, Biecherica said that the rising China’s participation in Arctic affairs is conducive to the governance and development of the Arctic, as well as regional peace and stability.
The "Arctic China Threat Theory" put forward by Western countries is actually a concrete projection of the complex psychology of obstructing China's development and worrying about the "China-Russia alliance" in the Arctic region.
Data map: On July 20, 2017, 96 members of China's eighth Arctic scientific expedition team took the "Xuelong" ship from the dock of the Chinese Polar Expedition domestic base in Shanghai to perform the Arctic scientific expedition mission.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fang Zhe
The summary of the interview record is as follows:
China News Agency reporter: How does current international law stipulate the rights that countries enjoy in the Arctic? As a non-Arctic country, does China have the right to participate in Arctic affairs?
Biecherica:
There is no single international treaty applicable to Arctic affairs. It is regulated by international treaties such as the Charter of the United Nations, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Spitsbergen Treaty, and general international law.
The United States, Canada, Norway, Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and Sweden belong to the Arctic countries, and the territorial sovereignty of the Arctic continent and islands belong to these eight countries.
Countries outside the Arctic region do not enjoy territorial sovereignty in the Arctic. However, in accordance with international treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and general international law, they enjoy scientific research, navigation, flying over, fishing, and laying submarine cables and pipelines in the high seas of the Arctic Ocean. The seabed area enjoys the rights of resource exploration and development.
In addition, the States parties to the Spitsbergen Treaty have the right to freely enter and exit specific areas of the Arctic, and shall equally enjoy the right to conduct scientific research and engage in production and commercial activities in that specific area in accordance with the law.
China joined the Spitsbergen Treaty in 1925, but its substantial involvement in Arctic affairs only began after the 1990s.
As a geographically near-Arctic country, China's Arctic affairs are mainly focused on "cooperative" and "non-exclusive" fields such as scientific investigation, environmental protection, energy and resource development, and waterway development and utilization.
As China has said, China has demonstrated the principle of "no absence, no offside" in Arctic affairs.
China News Service: What impact will China's participation in Arctic affairs have on the Arctic region? Russia will assume the rotating presidency of the Arctic Council this year. What will this bring to the Arctic?
Biecherica:
China is a stakeholder in Arctic affairs, and at the same time, Arctic affairs cannot leave China's participation.
On the one hand, the natural conditions and changes in the Arctic have a direct impact on China’s climate system and ecological environment, which in turn are related to China’s economic interests in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and oceans. At the same time, the Arctic waterway connects Northeast Asia, Europe and China. The sea lanes with the shortest distances among the three major economic circles in North America occupy an important position in the global trading system, and China has to participate in Arctic affairs.
On the other hand, as one of the largest near-Arctic countries, China’s own climate ecology and economic activities are also closely related to the Arctic’s ecological environment and economic activities.
Russia is the largest country in the Arctic, and the development of the Arctic has become one of Russia's priority directions.
Russia, like other Arctic countries, hopes to use its own geographical advantages to realize its national interests through the development of the Arctic.
In fact, the main markets for products after the development of Arctic resources are outside the Arctic, especially in Europe and East Asia.
This year Russia will assume the rotating presidency of the Arctic Council. Russia will promote the application of environmental protection technologies in industries, energy and other fields. At the same time, it will increase investment in the Arctic region, develop Arctic transportation and infrastructure construction, and focus on the development of Arctic waterways. Construction, making it one of the most important waterways in the world.
However, the implementation of the project in the Arctic is costly and technically difficult, and this also provides new opportunities for Chinese companies to participate in cooperation.
Data map: On April 17, 2021 local time, the northern lights appeared in the night sky in Vorkuta, Komi Republic, Russia.
Image source: ICphoto
China News Agency reporter: What is the current situation of China-Russia cooperation in the Arctic?
Biecherica:
The cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic region has already begun, and its development has been accelerated in recent years. This is inseparable from the wishes of the leaders of the two countries.
The leaders of the two countries have expressed their wishes on Arctic cooperation on many occasions and achieved fruitful results in recent years.
The first is the joint scientific examination.
In 2016 and 2018, Russia and China conducted two joint scientific expeditions, which provided basic data support for assessing the marine environment, biological ecology and climate evolution of the Arctic Ocean.
The second is resource development.
The two countries successfully implemented the Yamal project in the Arctic.
This is a large-scale upstream investment and development project integrating natural gas extraction, processing, liquefaction and sales, and shipping. It can be regarded as a model for the two countries to develop resources in the Arctic region.
The third is waterway transportation.
Both parties have a deep foundation in waterway transportation.
Russia is open to international cooperation on the Northern Sea Route (Northeast Passage of the Arctic), and China is an important partner.
In recent years, 15 ships of COSCO SHIPPING Group have completed 19 voyages sailing on the Arctic Sea Channel.
The fourth is infrastructure construction.
Chinese companies have been deeply involved in the construction of polar infrastructure such as bases, roads, railways, airports and ports in the Yamal project.
It can be said that the cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic is completely mutually beneficial and does not pose any threat to other countries.
The first to benefit from the development of the two countries in the Arctic is the local residents.
Only one Yamal project has created tens of thousands of local jobs and initially improved the local living standards.
Therefore, China should participate in Arctic cooperation, especially developing Arctic cooperation with Russia.
Arctic affairs are not only the affairs of Arctic countries, but also involve the interests of countries outside the Arctic and the overall interests of the international community. They are related to the common destiny of human survival and development, and have global significance and international influence.
The rising China's participation in Arctic affairs is conducive to the governance and development of the Arctic, and regional peace and stability.
China News Agency reporter: In April this year, the US media hyped up Russia's military presence in the Arctic, saying that satellite images showed that Russia was strengthening its military strength and testing the latest weapons in the Arctic. Does the Arctic region have military significance? Why are Western countries so concerned about China's participation in Arctic affairs and Sino-Russian Arctic cooperation?
Biecerica:
Like other regions, the Arctic naturally has military significance.
In this regard, Russia’s attitude is clear and does not want the militarization of the Arctic.
Russia is in favor of dialogue among countries in the Arctic region and is ready to maintain multilateral contacts in the military field to reduce potential risks.
In fact, while exaggerating the Russian threat, the United States has strengthened its military presence in the Arctic.
In January of this year, the U.S. Navy issued its "Blue Arctic" strategic plan, which formulated a joint operation of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard for the next two decades. Military presence; at the same time, from 2022 to 2025, the US Army will invest 109 million US dollars to purchase various types of polar combat vehicles; the US Coast Guard also started the construction of a new type of icebreaker this year, which is expected to be delivered in 2024.
In addition, the United States also encourages NATO members such as the United Kingdom and Norway to strengthen their military presence in the Arctic, and has repeatedly held joint military exercises involving surface ships such as aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines. Strategic bombers are also cruising over the Arctic Ocean.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s "Basic Policy of the Russian Federation’s Arctic States until 2035" clearly stated that Russia’s military deployment in the Arctic is mainly aimed at Russia’s national security challenges, and protects important industrial facilities in the Arctic region and Russia’s economic interests. damage.
At the same time, it is strange that Western countries are concerned about China's participation in Arctic affairs.
Because the international community shares a common destiny in dealing with global issues in the Arctic, China’s participation in them is due.
The legitimacy of China's participation in Arctic affairs has been speculated by the West as an attempt to seize Arctic resources and expand its international influence and resist it.
The West believes that Russia and China have formed a "military alliance" in the Arctic is even more outrageous. China has no military presence in the Arctic, and Russia's military power in the Arctic is limited to responding to threats.
Therefore, Western countries’ worries about Russia and China in the Arctic are in fact obstructing China’s development and worrying about the concrete projection of the complex psychology of "Russia-China alliance" in the Arctic.
(over)
About the interviewee:
Vladimir Fedelvich Biecherica, born in 1948, is currently a professor of the Department of Political Science of the Russian Far Eastern Federal University and an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 1996, he was included in the "Who's Who in Russian Political Science" by the Russian National Social Science Foundation, and is known as the "Father of Far Eastern Political Science".
Served as a member of the editorial board of several authoritative Russian political science journals, published a large number of academic papers, and had many years of in-depth research on China and Arctic issues.