Camilla Tenna Nørup Sørensen

These years, China appears on the international scene as a more confident great power marking the end of the traditional “keep a low profile” guideline for Chinese foreign and security policy. In Washington, China is increasingly seen – and treated – as a threatening great power rival resulting in a “securitisation” of almost all dimensions of the bilateral U.S.-China relationship from student exchanges and cultural programs to trade and joint business and research projects. The heightened zero-sum great power rivalry dynamics between the U.S. and China present close U.S. allies such as Denmark with growing challenges in their relations with China. This is playing out globally, but for Denmark, the implications for Arctic politics and security are especially important and difficult to manage also due to Russia’s presence in the region and the complex – and evolving – Kingdom of Denmark constellation.

In late January 2018, China released its long-awaited White Paper on China’s Arctic Policy. It represents the culmination of the development of a more confident, proactive and sophisticated Chinese diplomacy in the Arctic and reflects how the Arctic has moved up the Chinese leaders’ foreign and security policy agenda and is assigned increasing strategic significance. The policy brief analyses China’s Arctic White Paper focusing on the potential implications for Greenland and the Danish Realm. The policy brief concludes that China’s increasing presence in the Arctic constitutes a challenge as well as an opportunity depending on whether Copenhagen and Nuuk are able to find stronger common ground in their approach to China in the Arctic and succeed in establishing open, respectful and constructive dialogue and cooperation on this matter.

I slutningen af januar 2018 offentliggjorde Kina sin længe ventede Arktisstrategi. Den står som en foreløbig kulmination på de senere års udvikling af et mere selvsikkert, proaktivt og sofistikeret kinesisk diplomati i Arktis. Beijing har intensiveret bestræbelserne på at etablere stærke og omfattende relationer til alle arktiske aktører og gradvist øget Kinas tilstedeværelse og indflydelse i arktiske institutioner. Flere kinesiske investeringer og infrastrukturprojekter finder også vej til Arktis. Dette er i høj grad drevet af stigende kinesisk interesse i arktiske ressourcer og søruter, som nu officielt indgår i præsident Xi Jinpings store prestigeprojekt ‘Den Nye Silkevej’. Briefet analyserer Kinas Arktisstrategi med fokus på potentielle implikationer for Grønland og for Rigsfællesskabet. Hovedbudskabet er, at Kinas stigende rolle og tilstedeværelse i Arktis udgør såvelen udfordring som en mulighed, afhængig af hvorvidt København og Nuuk formår at have åben, respektfuld og konstruktiv dialog og samarbejde herom.