<\/p>\n
According to Kaja Kallas, the European Union\u2019s foreign affairs chief, China and Russia must be having a \u201cfield day<\/a>\u201d about Donald Trump\u2019s plans for Greenland, which Kallas says will divide Nato.<\/p>\n But according to Trump, his plans are motivated by a desire to counter the very threat that Kallas identified. \u201cWorld peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland<\/a>, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.<\/p>\n Viewed from Beijing, Trump\u2019s moves on Greenland represent further proof that the US-led world order is in turmoil<\/a>, a trend that creates a significant opportunity for China. \u201cMost Chinese people view this as yet another manifestation of Trump\u2019s bullying, hegemonic and domineering behaviour,\u201d says Wang Wen, a professor at Renmin University in Beijing. But, Wang adds: \u201cTrump\u2019s occupation of Greenland would signify Nato\u2019s demise, a prospect that would greatly please Chinese people.\u201d<\/p>\n For years, there has been a growing drumbeat <\/a>in US foreign policy circles raising the alarm about China\u2019s \u2013 and Russia\u2019s \u2013 increased presence in the Arctic region. In 2019, the then secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that Beijing\u2019s influence risked creating a \u201cnew South China Sea\u201d around the north pole as he pledged to beef up the US\u2019s presence there.<\/p>\n But when it comes to Greenland, Chinese stakeholders have struggled to gain a significant foothold, in part because of resistance from the US and Denmark. In 2018, reportedly under pressure from the US, Denmark blocked a bid from a Chinese state-owned company to expand a network of Greenlandic airports. A Chinese company was also blocked<\/a> from buying an abandoned naval base in Greenland two years earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cI doubt there is a single Chinese strategist who would have listed the US annexing Greenland as being among their security concerns,\u201d says Andrew Small, director of the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. \u201cThey have, on the other hand, seen the US alliance network as one of the most significant aspects of US strategic edge over China<\/a>, and they saw the potential for that alliance network to be mobilised against China as one of their greatest concerns \u2026 the unraveling of US alliances brings a host of benefits [for Beijing]\u201d.<\/p>\n Beijing\u2019s official line is that it opposes attempts by the US to undermine the UN charter, a treaty that guarantees the sovereignty of states. On Monday, China\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, urged the US to stop using the \u201cso-called \u2018China threat\u2019\u201d in Greenland as a pretext for imposing tariffs on European countries.<\/p>\n Still, China\u2019s limited interests in Greenland are not for lack of trying. Between 2012 and 2017, China\u2019s foreign direct investment in Greenland represented <\/a>more than 11% of the territory\u2019s GDP, a far greater share than in other Arctic nations. Greenland\u2019s desire to attract Chinese investment to help it exploit its mineral resources has sometimes been at odds with the security concerns of Denmark, which controls the territory\u2019s security and foreign affairs, and of other Nato allies.<\/p>\n In 2018, China published a white paper<\/a> outlining its Arctic policy. Somewhat implausibly, it described itself as a \u201cnear-Arctic state\u201d with corresponding interests in the region. The paper said China \u201chopes to work with all parties to build a \u2018Polar Silk Road\u2019 through developing the Arctic shipping routes,\u201d positioning China\u2019s Arctic strategy as being part of Xi Jinping\u2019s signature belt and road initiative. China also stressed the opportunities for scientific research in the Arctic.<\/p>\n In October, the first step along the Polar Silk Road came to fruition. A Chinese container ship from Ningbo in east China docked in Felixstowe port in Suffolk. The arrival marked the first time that a ship had travelled from China to Europe via the Northern Sea Route<\/a>, a shipping route that runs along Russia\u2019s Arctic coastline. The journey along a route operated by a Chinese-controlled container line took just 20 days, according to Chinese state media<\/a>, around half the typical journey time.<\/p>\n But that trade route relies primarily on cooperation with Russia. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Beijing has drawn closer to Moscow and been viewed with greater suspicion by European countries, especially Russia\u2019s neighbours. For years, Chinese companies struggled to turn mining projects in Greenland into lucrative business ventures. Trump\u2019s overt interest in the territory has only made things harder.<\/p>\n \u201cSince Donald Trump\u2019s first presidential term \u2026 Chinese companies in Greenland have faced pushback from the United States and Denmark, and Beijing itself seems to have discouraged investment there in recent years,\u201d says Patrik Andersson, at the Swedish National China Centre. \u201cChina\u2019s engagement in Greenland today is extremely limited.\u201d<\/p>\n Some have pointed to China\u2019s 6.5% stake in the Kvanefjeld mining project in southern Greenland as evidence of China\u2019s interests in the territory\u2019s rare earths. But Andersson points out that the project has been inactive since the Greenlandic government banned uranium mining in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven US and Danish opposition to Chinese activity in Greenland, and the wider western efforts to build rare earth supply chains independent of China, it is also unlikely that Chinese companies would be allowed to invest in any other Greenlandic rare earth projects,\u201d Andersson says.<\/p>\n Regardless, Beijing is trying to figure out how to deal with a US leader who is smashing up the global alliances that have countered China\u2019s rise, but whose unpredictability and strongman sensibilities could yet threaten China\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n Additional research by Lillian Yang<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n #China #sees #opportunity #Greenland #Trump #thinks #China<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" According to Kaja Kallas, the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14179"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Hopes of a \u2018Polar Silk Road\u2019<\/h2>\n