China’s interest in the Arctic, and particularly Greenland, has surged recently. This change is particularly making ripples, as China looks to increase global leadership roles in both trade and scientific research. Recent trumpets from China’s state media reveal the sounds of breakthrough glory. A China-controlled container line has cut the travel times on one of the most traveled shipping routes to less than 20 days—nearly half the typical time. This latest move highlights China’s expansionist maritime designs across the Indo-Pacific.
China’s Arctic strategy aligns closely with Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, seeking to enhance connectivity and trade opportunities. Climate change is melting polar ice and opening up new shipping lanes, resource extraction opportunities, and geopolitical borders in the Arctic. China sees this region as clear commercial prospects but equally as a means to improving scientific research. Indeed, U.S. foreign policy experts have expressed alarm over China’s expanding role in the region. They’re paying very careful attention to this multi-pronged approach and the possible effects.
In 2018, the U.S. government pressured Denmark to thwart a bid from a Chinese state-owned enterprise aimed at expanding a network of airports in Greenland. The move illustrated the heightened tensions surrounding China’s activities in the Arctic, where its foreign direct investment represented over 11% of Greenland’s GDP between 2012 and 2017. Even with these investments, Chinese stakeholders have experienced significant pushback, mainly from the U.S. and Denmark.
China’s engagement with Greenland has included a 6.5% equity stake in the Kvanefjeld rare earths mining project in southern Greenland. This investment is now suspended after the Greenlandic government’s move to ban uranium mining in 2021. In 2016, to little fanfare, U.S. officials intervened to prevent a Chinese company from purchasing an abandoned U.S. naval base in Greenland. This case exemplifies the risks that Chinese interests continue to confront in the territory.
Andrew Small, an expert on U.S.-China relations, remarked on the geopolitical landscape, stating, “I doubt there is a single Chinese strategist who would have listed the US annexing Greenland as being among their security concerns.”
China’s engagement in Greenland is still dwarfed by its intentions. The Chinese government released an Arctic policy white paper in 2018, reiterating calls for peaceful cooperation and sustainable development. Even with its best efforts, the U.S. is too skeptical. It views Chin’s advances as a threat to its own interests in the area.
Former President Donald Trump has claimed that “World peace is at stake! China and Russia want [Greenland], and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it.” His comments are both a symptom and a cause of a growing concern among U.S. officials about the geopolitical implications of China’s Arctic ambitions.
China’s Polar Silk Road initiative has just reached a historic objective. A Chinese container ship successfully sailed from Shanghai to the UK’s Felixstowe port via the Northern Sea Route. This latest event underscores China’s goals of expanding their own trade routes and establishing their global prowess with a foothold in the Arctic.
China has repeatedly urged the United States to abandon its “so-called ‘China threat’” storyline. They claim that this is the real intent behind the rhetoric, an excuse to slap tariffs onto countries in Europe. Resentments are still rising. It remains to be seen how China will balance their ambitions in Greenland with the prospect of increased international scrutiny.