Could the Arctic chill US-China relations still further?
- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warns against Beijing’s ‘aggressive behaviour’ in polar region
- But observers say the US is overestimating the threat from China, which is more interested in scientific research than military matters
Tensions between China and the US have spilled over into the Arctic with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warning that Beijing’s “aggressive behaviour” in the polar north could create a “new South China Sea” conflict.
Speaking at a meeting of the Arctic Council – a high-level forum with representatives from eight countries – Pompeo said the resource-rich region had become “an arena of global power and competition”, and that the US was planning to strengthen its presence there to keep strategic rivals Russia and China in check.
“Just because the Arctic is a place of wilderness does not mean it should become a place of lawlessness,” he said in a speech in Rovaniemi, northern Finland, on Monday.
“China’s pattern of aggressive behaviour elsewhere will inform how it treats the Arctic.”
He also accused Beijing of using civilian polar research missions to advance its military and commercial goals, including launching the “Polar Silk Road” for trade and shipping, which he said had raised doubts about its intentions.
“Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarisation and competing territorial claims?” he said.