Non LI Event - SIPRI-CCCWS workshop in Beijing about Nordic and China's perspectives on Arctic developments - China now calls itself a 'near-Arctic state'
BEIJING, 10 May 2012. The new challenges and opportunities posed by increased access to the Arctic were discussed on 10 May 2012 at a workshop in Beijing entitled ‘Chinese and Nordic Cooperation on Arctic Developments’
The workshop, organized by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (CCCWS), focused on governance, international law, shipping routes and future prospects for economic development in the Arctic region. Participants included government officials and scholars from China and the Nordic countries. Linda Jakobson, East Asia Program Director at the Lowy Institute for International Policy and member of the SIPRI Arctic research team, was responsible for bringing together the experts and led the wrap-up session expounding on the day's discussions.
China seeks permanent observer status in the Arctic Council, an issue which came up repeatedly during the workshop. China argues that the implications of the changing Arctic environment are both global and regional, and therefore Beijing views China's participation in Arctic governance as justified.
The Arctic Council has received 10 permanent observer status applications, which are expected to be resolved at the next Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting. Workshop participants from all Nordic countries reiterated Nordic support for China's permanent observer status. Linda Jakobson explained that ‘This has been a truly unique opportunity for Nordic and Chinese experts, diplomats and officials to engage with each other on Arctic issues. To my knowledge the workshop was the first of its kind held in China’.
Nordic countries, which have traditionally struggled to gain the attention of China, have the potential to forge a special Arctic relationship with the rising global power. All five Nordic nations are Arctic Council members. Moreover, Norway and the Kingdom of Denmark (on the basis of Greenland) are Arctic littoral states.
The visit in April 2012 by Premier Wen Jiabao to Iceland and Sweden sparked speculation about the emerging superpower's ambitions in the far north. China's interest in the Arctic has certainly grown considerably in the past few years. The Chinese government has recently increased investment in Arctic research and commissioned a second Polar high-tech icebreaker, due to be operational in 2012. Chinese Arctic specialists now refer to China as a 'near-Arctic state'. At the Beijing workshop the term 'stakeholder' was also used.
In a 2010 SIPRI report, China prepares for an ice-free Arctic, Linda Jakobson encouraged the Arctic Council's Nordic members to grasp the opportunity to forge a unique relationship with China by engaging with Chinese officials and academics on Arctic issues.
For editors
Videos of interviews with Dr Yang Jian of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies; Senior Arctic Official, Ambassador Andreas von Uexküll, Sweden; and Finland's Arctic Ambassador, Hannu Halinen who participated in the workshop, are now available on SIPRI's YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/SIPRIorg.
The workshop in Beijing formed part of SIPRI Arctic Futures, a research project funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (MISTRA) aiming to build social and political science capacity on Arctic issues in Sweden.
Linda Jakobson is available for interviews about China's evolving interest in the Arctic.
