The Straits Times：The dragon eyes the top of the world
Source：The Straits Times
Link：http://www2.straitstimes.com/print/News/World/Story/STIStory_793665.html
Apr 29, 2012
The dragon eyes the top of the world
China's wooing of the Arctic states is a bid to stake claim on energy resources, trade routes
By Kor Kian Beng
Look who's showing up in the Arctic!
Never mind the bone-chilling cold or the distance from home, China's appetite for energy supplies and trading routes is taking it into some uncharted waters.
The world's No. 2 economy has been quietly journeying to countries near the North Pole for two decades, seeking to stake its claim on new natural resources and shipping lanes for the time when the melting ice caps disappear. Now, the pace is quickening.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visits last week to Iceland and Sweden - both Arctic Council members - and a Chinese tycoon's failed bid last year to buy land in Iceland reflect Beijing's feverish interest.
It comes on top of trips by senior Chinese leaders to Arctic countries, including smaller ones such as Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden. At least seven have been made since 2009.
The five countries sit on the Arctic Council which also comprises the United States, Canada and Russia. Moscow welcomed visiting Vice-Premier Li Keqiang last Thursday.
Observers cite these as clear evidence of China's ambitions to be a major player in the region, even though it has hardly any geographical or historical ties there.
Said Arctic issues expert Francois Perreault in a paper last week: 'As the ice gets thinner in the north cap, China seems to be seeking a larger role in determining the future political and legal structure of the Arctic Ocean.'
After all, too much is at stake in the icy wilderness for the world's biggest energy consumer to stay uninvolved.
The region is believed to contain up to 20 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves, along with resources like coal, gold and silver.
It could also host new shipping routes as soon as 2040, slashing the time needed for Chinese goods to travel to European ports by more than a week.
To be fair, China is not the only external party raising temperatures in the Arctic, which is increasingly being viewed as another potential big power playground, just like the South China Sea.
Set up in 1996 to promote cooperation, the council has six observers, including France and Germany, and three ad-hoc observers in China, Japan and South Korea.
But there are signs that China might be in the lead, with some countries warming to Beijing's hot pursuit.
Mr Wen's Iceland visit - the first by a Chinese premier, and significantly the first stop of a four-country Europe tour - produced a slew of pacts covering areas like polar science and technology. Ditto his Sweden visit, which yielded trade deals.
Since 2008, Denmark and China have also upgraded their ties to that of a 'strategic partnership'. Relations with Canada, which will chair the council next year, have also been warming, and could help Beijing take on a bigger role in the region.
But it is not all smooth sailing. Chinese millionaire Huang Nubo's attempt last year to buy 300 sq km of land in Iceland for a resort was rejected by the government on technical grounds. Mr Huang's rumoured link to the Chinese military was viewed as the real factor.
China's human rights record has also been a sticking point. Its relations with Norway have been chilly since 2010, when the Oslo-based Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to jailed dissident writer Liu Xiaobo, prompting Beijing to freeze bilateral trade talks.
Since then, Norway has been among the region's most vocal critics of China's request to be made a permanent observer on the council, which will give it unrestricted access to attend meetings, though the move is more symbolic.
Analysts cite some factors that could freeze China's 'Arctic diplomacy'.
Some countries doubt Beijing's oft-repeated rhetoric of wanting to help them develop, and believe instead that China views the region as a platform to burnish its standing as a superpower.
China's depiction of the region as one that possesses a 'shared heritage of humankind' also prompts unease that it might challenge some of the Arctic states' sovereignty claims, said Dr Perreault.
Such fears make governments in the area frown upon outsiders like China, just as Beijing is possessive about the South China Sea.
But foreign policy expert Yang Cheng from the East China Normal University said the two scenarios are different, stressing that the melting of the ice caps is a trans-national issue that will have an impact on all countries, including China.
'Arctic countries should give China a chance to prove its intentions and sincerity to be a benign global power. If they keep treating us as enemies, it might become self-fulfilling,' said Dr Yang.