China and Russia have chilling plans for the Arctic
The two autocracies dream of creating a “polar silk road”
Four hundred kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, in the Norwegian port of Kirkenes, there are still some who dream that this sleepy town will one day become an important shipping hub. They see it as the western end of a new, faster sea route from China to Europe, made possible by the impact of global warming on ice-filled waters off the Siberian coast. With war raging in Ukraine, this ambition now sounds fanciful. China’s support for Russia is fuelling Western distrust of the Asian power’s “polar silk road” plans. But China is not retreating from the Arctic. It still sees a chance to boost its influence there, and to benefit from the area’s wealth of natural resources.
Explore more
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Picking through the ice”
From the June 22nd 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from China
The noose around the press in Hong Kong tightens
Even advocating press freedom begins to seem a bad career move
China’s ruling party sets out its vision of economic reform
The party sees no need for a decisive break with the past
Fury erupts in China over a food-safety scandal
Rare investigative journalism touches a raw public nerve