What's China really up to in the Arctic? | The Economist

China is not among the eight states that actually have territory in the Arctic. Uh China's northernmost point is about 900 miles from the Arctic Circle. Nonetheless, President Xiinping has said that he wants China to be a polar great power by 2030. And eight years ago in in 2018, China published its first official document detailing its Arctic policy and outlining plans for what what it called a polar silk road. I remember that polar silk road announcement causing a stir at the time that marking a shift from seeing the Arctic as a place for scientific research to a region that could bring about more economic and political benefits. um and China recognizing the need to get in early to protect those interests. And in the years since, we've seen China increasing investment in the region, especially in developing new shipping lanes through the Arctic. That's right. So, the the Polar Silk Road that was mentioned in that document is is build as a kind of an expansion of uh the Broad Air Belt Initiative, that trillion dollar program uh that was launched in 2013, you know, to develop, you know, infrastructure all around the world. And the centerpiece of of the polar silk road is really the northern seaw route uh the shipping lane between Asia and Europe that passes through the Arctic Ocean. And that was previously considered too dangerous and too expensive because it was blocked by ice for most of the year. But as that ice has retreated, it's becoming more viable. And the big advantage of the of the route is that it can take as little as 20 days compared to 40 going uh via the sewers canal