Four million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year: that is what China expects to receive from Russia’s Yamal project, one of the few concrete Arctic stakes it already holds. On Friday, 26 January 2018, Beijing set out how it wants to build on it, issuing its opening Arctic strategy document, a white paper from the State Council Information Office.
The headline idea was a “Polar Silk Road”. The plan is to push companies toward infrastructure projects and commercial trial voyages, with the goal of opening Arctic shipping routes as an extension of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative. “China hopes to work with all parties to build a ‘Polar Silk Road’ through developing the Arctic shipping routes,” the paper said.
Why the sea lanes matter
The economics are about time. Reuters cited China Daily as saying the Northern Sea Route cuts nearly 20 days from the usual trip via the Suez Canal, and COSCO Shipping had already sailed vessels through the northeast passage. Research ships were ahead of the merchant fleet: in 2017 the research vessel Xue Long was the first from China to sail all three major Arctic routes, the Northwest Passage, the Northeast Passage and the Transpolar Sea Route, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Beyond shipping, the paper says China also has its eye on oil, gas, minerals, other non-fossil energy, fishing and tourism. It promised to pursue them jointly with Arctic states while respecting the traditions and cultures of Arctic residents, including indigenous peoples, and while conserving the natural environment. CSIS notes the region may hold roughly 13 percent of undiscovered crude oil worldwide and 30 percent of its undiscovered gas, though extraction stays difficult and expensive because of harsh climate, thin infrastructure and distance from manufacturing centers.
An outsider with an observer’s seat
China is not an Arctic state. It became an observer at the Arctic Council in 2013, one of 13 observers, having spent five years lobbying members and failing twice first. The paper lists four principles, respect, cooperation, win-win results and sustainability, commits to existing international law, and calls for a “just, reasonable and well-organized Arctic governance system”. On disputes, it supports settlement under established treaties, naming the UN law of the sea convention.
Arctic governments were not all reassured. Reuters wrote that China’s growing prominence had prompted concern over its long-term strategic goals, including possible military deployment. Vice-Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou answered that at a briefing. “Some people may have misgivings over our participation in the development of the Arctic, worried we may have other intentions, or that we may plunder resources or damage the environment,” he said, adding that it was “completely unnecessary to doubt our intentions”.
Sources
- China Unveils 'Polar Silk Road' Arctic Vision (Reuters report via Maritime Professional)
- China Launches the Polar Silk Road (CSIS Reconnecting Asia)
- China publishes Arctic policy, eyeing vision of 'Polar Silk Road' (Xinhua; date and principles only, state media)
