China rejects Mike Pompeo’s challenge to its ‘near-Arctic nation’ claim
- US secretary of state on Monday tweeted that Beijing’s declaration was a ‘communist fiction’
- Foreign ministry hits back by contrasting Chinese involvement in the region with American activities in the South China Sea
Pompeo tweeted on Monday that it was a “communist fiction” that China was a near-Arctic nation, posting a map showing that the country was 900 miles (1,450km) from the Arctic Circle.
“Mr Pompeo is not bad at calculating distance. Since he has figured out that China is 900 miles from the Arctic Circle, has he ever measured the distance between the continental United States and the South China Sea?” she said.
“The South China Sea is more than 8,300 miles away from the continental United States, or 5,800 miles away from Hawaii. Despite such distance, the US side has repeatedly sent warships and aircraft to the South China Sea for all kinds of military drills and close-in reconnaissance, without a break all year round.”
China’s increasing cooperation with Russia in the region has also worried Washington. In 2018, the China Development Bank signed a deal with Russia’s state-controlled Vnesheconombank (VEB) to provide Chinese investment of up to 600 billion roubles (US$8.1 billion) in the Russian Arctic region.
“Our relations with … the Arctic are warmer than they’ve ever been. Have to keep up the momentum, or Russia & China will fill the void,” Pompeo said in a separate tweet on Monday.
According to Mia Bennett, an Arctic researcher from the University of Hong Kong’s geography department, US concerns stem from a fear that it is fast falling behind China in the region.
“China has been increasing its capabilities in the Arctic in ways that may appear threatening to the US, in no small part because I might argue that these advances are happening more quickly than they are in the US,” she said.
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Bennett said Washington was concerned about China’s cooperation with Russia, but that the incoming Joe Biden administration would be less hawkish.
“China has built up a robust scientific and commercial presence in the Arctic that many hawks in DC – and particularly the Trump administration – view as overtly threatening to national interests and American security,” she said.
“While the Pentagon will remain cautious of China’s increasing capabilities in the region and its continued cooperation in both economic development and joint military exercises with Russia, the hot-tempered rhetoric of Mike Pompeo will soon be a thing of the past.”
Beijing says its presence in the Arctic is peaceful. “China respects the sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction enjoyed by the Arctic states … and stands ready to contribute to peace, stability and sustainable development in the Arctic,” Hua said.
